


Through the screen

by InkyGoat



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (or so we hope), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Avengers Compound, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Confusion, Domestic Avengers, Don't copy to another site, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Multiverse, Original Character(s), POV Multiple, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Real Person in the MCU, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2020-12-14 01:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21007805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkyGoat/pseuds/InkyGoat
Summary: Bruce and Tony had been building a portal since 2012. After Thanos snaps his fingers, the surviving Avengers desperately turn it on, but someone unexpected falls through.Chris Evans? Mark Ruffalo? Why is this person calling them the wrong names? What in all the multiverses are they on about?





	1. Portal to hope

**AFTERNOON - 11th OF MAY, 2012 - AVENGER'S TOWER, EARTH**

"Anything interesting over there?"

Stirred from his concentration, Bruce looked up from the equipment he was analysing. On the other side of the laboratory, Tony sat rummaging through his own pile of tech and throwing the various parts around, leaving a rather spectacular mess in the process. It was Tony's workshop and all, but cleaning that up will take far longer than it had to be.

In his own section, Bruce had organised his technology scraps into three piles; useless, investigate and remodel. Although it probably did not matter too much, Tony was going to come along and mix it all up within a few minutes.

"Bruce?" Tony asked again, "Don't tell me one of those machine pieces stole your voice, Little Mermaid."

"No, no, all good, all good," Bruce hurried to answer, taking off his glasses, grimacing at the tired stinging of his eyes, "But nothing interesting on its own, just bits and pieces of stuff."

The not so exciting news drew out a deep sigh from Tony, and he pushed away from his desk, spinning around a few times as the wheelie chair took him on a trip through the room. Well, he crashed into some items on the group, as every available surface was taken. Machinery, weapons, or just random technology, all taken in from the S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Phase Two' collection. They had been going through it for hours, seeing if any of it could be useful for purposes other than war, but no such luck. Maybe some energy cores or unique designs could be integrated into non-lethal day to day items.

"What about that, uh, portal in which Loki came?" If Bruce did notice Tony's hesitation in saying 'portal', he didn't think much of it. After all, the battle did take quite a toll on everyone.

"It needed the Tessaract to function, but Thor took that back to Asgard," He answered, "Not much luck getting our hands on it."

Even before becoming a scientist, Bruce had pondered how far their universe stretches, whether or not life existed outside of their solar system, and how humans could one day reach it. But now there's proof. He could see it in the city outside, on every news channel he turned to. More hauntingly in the eyes of the people around him, every goddam day.

"C'mon Bruce, you and I can figure something out. Who needs a Tessaract to power an intergalactic portal?" Tony's voice had an underlying plea to it, almost desperate.

"Tony, it's not that I don't want to try but... look what happened last time! Loki came, and then the army - "

"Yup, yeah, I get it." Tony cut him off quite suddenly, turning his head away. He took a breath. And another, but his eyes were distant when he looked back at Bruce. "But think about it. What if one day we need to go out there to win? Or to track someone down? Imagine if we can scan deep space and find our enemies before they even come here to attack us. I know I'm asking a lot, and I hate the 'what-ifs' in my head, but... this could make such a difference later on."

The good cause was hard to argue, but the what-ifs were definitely haunting. 'What-if', the fear of any inventor. What if it failed? What if no one wants this? Or what if this _thing_ makes everything worse and people die? They really shouldn't, not so soon after the 'Battle of New York' as the media dubbed it. Actual aliens came down from the sky and attacked the city. But goddamit, what if aliens came down tomorrow? Or in a month? Maybe Tony's right, one day they will need to go out there to win.

"Okay," The billionaire's face lit up, a child on Christmas, "I'll help you, but you must know you're much better at this stuff than me."

"Now, now, don't beat yourself up. Remember that study on anti-electron collisions? Beautiful!"

Before long, their motivation to work was back at full force. The two scientists were hunched over for many more hours, bickering, collaborating, throwing balls of paper at each other, the usual. Well, Bruce eventually fell asleep on the desk and woke up to see Pepper come and drag Tony away in the morning.

In just a few weeks, the first plans were drawn up, though they had to wait until after Tony's surgery, to finish the first real design. And then the next. And more and more improved versions. Never testing it, but the calculations always showed that it should work.

As the plans became more detailed and thorough, months and then years had flown by. They talked of visiting Asgard without Thor's help, and of ensuring peace. Ideas of connecting Ultron to the machine one day, so that he may look up to the skies and let them know if anything was coming. One day, being the keywords here, for despite being on version five and a half, the machine stood untested.

Then Bruce was gone.

Following the Ultron disaster, the Hulk, along with Bruce Banner, went missing. There wasn't anyone for Tony to share ideas with, or go over parts of the machine that could use improvement. No one to geek out with. A friend was lost.

In the next few months, Tony made some little adjustments, hoping to locate Bruce, but with every alteration, he felt more and more scared to test it. The thought of turning it on, only to see it fail was enough to stop his hand from ever pulling the lever. He tinked and changed it and added to it, but nothing more. It didn't matter if Tony dipped into quantum mechanics with his calculations, or something even theoretical and bordering on multiverse shenanigans.

However, after Germany, Tony dropped the project altogether. Between managing accords, mentoring a spider-kid and finally trying to fix up his personal life, there wasn't any time. The 'portal' stood dusting in the Avengers Compound, locked away and hidden from sight.

* * *

**SUNSET - 1st OF JUNE, 2018 - WAKANDA, EARTH**

_Steve?_

He was gone again. The scene replayed in his head, like a phonograph, stuck on the same line. Over, and over, and over again. Steve can feel himself turn around, and watch as Bucky falls down, crumbling into dust. He remembers the feeling of it thinning beneath his hands, falling apart even further.

From the balcony Steve stood on, he could see the battlefield, stained in blood, red and alien blue, but most heavy lay the cloud of dust. There were no bodies to bury for them, nothing to remember them by. Only after those who died during the battle, and those who survived both genocides have been accounted for, could the missing be mourned.

For now, Steve sat alone. Bucky and Sam were gone. Natasha left hours ago to coordinating searches for people, clinging onto the hope that some people could still be found. Rhodes took off in his suit; the governments needed to know exactly what happened. And the others... well they weren't much better off either.

He heard footsteps from behind, but couldn't bother to look up.

_Up general, up! This is no place to die._

Okoye, general of the Dora Milaje, protector of the Black Panther and king, and she has failed. There was nothing between them; no bullet nor spear. T'Challa was just gone, his body collapsing into nothing, the memory of it forever burned into her mind.

The princess was also gone, leaving Okoye with the task to tell their surviving mother. The general thought T'Challa almost dying once was going to be the worst of it, but now half her people were gone. The Queen Mother was mourning her lost children, only showing up in public for a few brief moments, to inspire her people.

The soldier and warrior stayed silent, not particularly taking comfort in each other's presence, but instead ignoring the other for a blissful solitude. They lost. Big time. Reports were coming in every second; which presidents were gone, what other superheroes were missing, and the overwhelming panic from the Earth's population.

Tony Stark has been missing for nearly 24 hours. Some eyewitnesses claimed that Spider-Man was with him. And two other guys described simply as 'odd'. But no one has heard from any of those people, leaving Steve to just cling to his hope. Despite their past, despite all the mistakes made, Tony couldn't be gone. Not just like that, not without a final word, a finally sorry. Hell, Tony could scream at him all he wanted, if only he lived.

"You two should head inside." Bruce's voice drew them back to the ground.

The scientist stood in the doorway behind them, dark bags laying heavy under his eyes. He looked exhausted, barely balancing on two legs, but it's unlikely that anyone looked better.

Silently they followed Bruce inside, letting him guide them through the long twisting corridors. Just a few stairs and turns and in the end, they walked out into Princess Shuri's private laboratory. She had stood there, less than five hours ago, jokingly clowning the technology that had created Vision. Not that her efforts mattered in the end, Wanda still had to watch Vision die twice; once by her own hands.

In the vast space of the room stood the other surviving Avengers. With Rhodes already overseas, it only left Natasha and Thor. With Bruce and Steve, that was only five surviving Avengers that they knew of. Additionally, there was the talking racoon, Rocket. From what Steve heard the latter was a part of the 'Guardians of the Galaxy', none of whom were on Earth when it happened. The creature had no way of knowing if his other friends survived.

Steve settled down into a chair, with the god of thunder leaning forward into his hands across from him. Steve didn't bother looking around at the others, he knew how they felt. They failed.

"Word has gone out that the battle ended. Search parties have been started." Natasha spoke up, voice barely trembling but monotone. Steve just hummed quietly to show he heard. "So far, the reports are showing thousands of confirmed deaths, but if Thanos did what he said he would, then the real numbers will be in the billions."

"Yeah, try trillions. You folk aren't the only people in the universe." The rough voice sounded familiar, but still took a moment for Steve to understand that it came from the raccoon. 

_Trillions. Gone in an instant._

For a few heavy minutes, no one made a sound. No noise came from the outside either. Whether it was from sound-proof walls or the disturbing lack of people, either way, the atmosphere created was chilling. Creepy. Unnatural.

"What do we do now?" Steve heard his own voice as if it wasn't him speaking.

No one could answer. How could they? None of them but Thor and Bruce had even seen Thanos before the final showdown. None of them had even been to space other than those two and the racoon. None of them were ready, the Avengers nothing but a name with no one in it, most members scattered across the globe, on the run.

"Nat? General?" Steve caught General Okoye shaking her head and turning away from the group of superheroes.

The most unlikely voice answered. "We have to go kill him, right?"

"Maybe we can still undo this, but first we need to find him, and finish this." Bruce spoke with a quiet determination. Steve had never heard him be so willing to go into a fight, so ready to put himself in harm's way. Then again, it's been two years since they last saw each other.

"How? He stepped through a portal." General Okoye didn't seem even remotely convinced at the possibility of a victory, "It's been a day since then, and he is not anywhere on Earth. We have no means of transport to get to him."

"Not necessarily, well, we have _something_.." The scientist then looked less sure of himself, almost sheepish, like a child who had done something his parents may not approve of. But the team hung to his every word, even if their expectations were low.

"A while back... Or I guess, a few years ago now, Tony and I were working on a deep space transport system." Confusion could be seen in the faces around him, but Bruce continued on, "We never got the chance to test it, but theoretically it should be able to track down Th- _him_, and get us over there."

The air was tense, suffocating almost, but Steve could feel hope begin to blossom. Bruce was right, they had to try. They had to find the son of a bitch who did this and make things right.

"Theoretically? I ain't losing a tail to a 'theoretical' portal." But the racoon's mumbled comments made a good argument.

"Rocket," Finally, Thor spoke up in his deep voice, "It's our only hope in finding him. We get those stones and use them to bring everyone back."

The racoon looked down, the realisation and worry, etched into his face. Even in its tiny form, Steve could tell how much pain and anger was coursing through the creature.

The sound of boots approaching let Steve know about Natasha's approach. When she spoke up, her tone was sharp, uncertain perhaps, but full of purpose. "Then let's get moving. Even if there's a small chance that we undo this... I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try."

There was no need for more encouragement or motivational speeches. The risk was high, but how much worst could it be. Finding Thanos was one step, but getting to him without a transport device was a whole lot more complicated. If Bruce says there is a way, then they have to give it a shot.

* * *

**AFTERNOON - 2nd OF JUNE, 2018 - WAKANDA TO NEW YORK, EARTH**

With another night's sleep, the team set off on their new mission.

Natasha was generously allowed to borrow an automated Wakanda craft and left to check on Fury. Or whoever else remained from the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. team. However, their previous failed attempts to contact them didn't leave much hope. Depending on what Natasha finds, she will either be back in time for first trials or miss that all until the big showdown.

Colonel Rhodes was notified of their new mission, but he had enough government and military issues to handle for the time being. General Okoye had to stay behind to help her people, but she wished them the best and asked to be informed of any progress made.

Their new team was small, but they didn't need a battalion. They just required for the machine to work, and for it to locate the bastard that they were looking for.

Then it was time to avenge.

Unfortunately, before they could get to the Compound, the team had to fly over remains of New York. The city was dark, too dark for its usually hyperactive nightlife. Closely resembling gravestones, the buildings rose from a dark mist, only half the buildings lit, and oh so many cars abandoned in the streets.

Steve himself only caught small glimpses of the outside, pointedly avoiding looking out at the shattered city that he loved, and choosing to either fidget with his compass or his gloves, both objects now holding a meaning so close to death. The hidden photo of Peggy, reminding him of a time long ago, before aliens and magic. He couldn't look at her too long, but the gloves were almost worse. Looking down at them, all Steve could feel was his hand brushing against the crumbling dust that was once his best friend.

This plan had to work. It just _had_ to. Steve could feel everyone's hope resonating through the aircraft, and if that hope was shattered, it seemed like there would be no recovering. Well, maybe one day the world could recover, but that day felt like an eternity away, somewhere so far off that it couldn't possibly even be in this world.

"We're here." The racoon's voice was barely loud enough to fill the large space in the jet, but everyone heard it nonetheless.

One by one, their scrappy little team rose to watch the Avengers Compound appear in the distance. The building looked as it did before when they still called it home. Well, to some like Rocket or Thor, it was just a headquarter, another building, but to Steve, it seemed more like a ghost. A shell of the life that once was.

The jet landed smoothly, engines humming rather quietly. Every action the team made in that place seemed to echo throughout the Compound. Whether or not anyone died here they could not tell, the wind had likely blown away any remnants of the fallen. F.R.I.D.A.Y. was silent when they entered, no acknowledgement or updates, almost as if she mourned with them, knowing the gravity of the situation. At least the first time the rogue Avengers came to the Compound, the A.I. had welcomed them, even if her cheerfulness seemed a bit forced.

"This way," Bruce spoke up, taking the lead from Steve, giving the super-soldier more time to look around on their path. They went past the corridor leading to everyone's rooms, past the conference room that brought up bitter memories, and eventually down towards the science laboratories and storages facilities.

Manoeuvring past mess in front of the door, likely something Stark left behind, the group finally arrived at their destination. Various storage units lined the walls. One was even opened, 17-A, but they could only guess what was kept in there. Right now, there was no time to ponder over the past. Storage 2-B was their final goal, far down the hallway.

When the keypad beeped in approval of the given code, the doors hissed, opening slowly as if it had been years since someone last came here. Darkness greeted them, soon followed by a flickering light, and there was the machine.

A circular structure stood in the middle of the vast space, haunting but curious to the team, like an unopened door that held great secrets behind it. Pieces of paper and machinery lay on the surrounding tables, and a light layer of dust was covering everything in sight.

The four of them stood silent. Seeing the machine truly solidified the hope they all carried. Once Rhodes and Romanoff got back, a team of six will be formed. For now, the damn thing just had to work.

"Could you turn it on?" Thor's pleading voice cut through the silence.

Bruce nodded, already shuffling over to what seemed like a control panel, and then shakily pressing his hand against the cold surface. With three slow beeps, the bio-metric scan was complete, and the screen lit up. Everyone crowded in awe as the system booted up. Numbers and words that barely had any meaning to them were followed by the word 'online'. After a few more seconds, everything was in working order.

"I-it's on," The scientist's voice was like a child opening a present, "Me and T- We, um, we never got around to trying it, but... it'll work. It will."

Steve nodded along, unable to voice his agreement. But he trusted Bruce, and Bruce trusted Tony when they initially created the machine. The billionaire was never wrong in his calculations. It will work.

* * *

**EVENING - 2nd OF JUNE, 2018 - AVENGER'S COMPOUND, EARTH**

"Remind me again why out here?" The racoon started again. Sighing Steve turned back around from the open window, starting his explanation once more.

"We're waiting for Bruce to finish some calculations and give us the all-clear," Steve began, again, "It's never been used remember? Plus it turns out Stark made a few changes while Bruce was gone. We just need to be safe."

"Right, 'cuz we have all the time in the world..."

Steve never thought that a raccoon would be lecturing him. Their small team was scattered about the lounge room. Rocket sat tinkering with some weapon, and Thor lingered around in the kitchen, while the super-soldier stood in the middle, once again playing the role of captain.

A hologram in the middle of the coffee table, showed all recent updates, government reports and missings numbers. They were only in the thousands, probably the first couple of people to begin filing missing reports, but it was clear that the number would soon reach the millions.

A faint ringing broke through the mist of thoughts, making Steve look up to the source of the noise. The hologram showed a call coming through, one that the super-soldier answered without much thought.

"Hey, Steve," Natasha. She finally reached out to them.

"Nat," Her tone didn't have any hopeful spark, hesitant almost, "How's - Is - Fury still...?"

"No. He... wasn't there."

His heartbeat rung loud in his ears. For what felt like too long, neither of them spoke up. Across the room, the others knew what was going on. They may not know who 'Fury' was, but the grief and guilt lay heavy on all of them.

"W-when can we expect you back here?" Steve finally broke the silence.

"With Fury, and Hill, and... so many gone, plus I still need to get a hold of Barton. I think... give me four hours."

"Alright. We might have - We might have to start test trials on this..._ thing_ before you get here. But look, Nat, if this- no, _when_ it works everything will be fine."

She didn't answer in words, just a quite 'uh-huh', and then the line went silent. Out of all of them, Natasha perhaps believed the least in miracles, but given how little of those she had in her life, it was understandable.

But soon, they should all be able to feel that hope. Bruce just needs to come back with the all-clear, say that the machine isn't too different from what he remembers it to be and that they can use it. Then they just need to go through, find the purple bastard and finish the job.

Plopping down onto a nearby couch, the captain thought about his ready-to-fight team. A racoon from space, a lighting summoning god, a master assassin, a genius with a monster inside and perhaps the most normal of them all, a colonel in a flying mechanic suit. Maybe a master archer if they can find him, and just maybe a billionaire in another suit if he's still alive. Not to mention the shrinking guy, the one from Queens and-

"It's ready."

The voice came from neither the kitchen nor lounge room and stopped every movement in the room or even building. Bruce stood in the corridor entrance. Finally, they could do it. _It's ready. It's ready._ The words silently echoed around the room.

Everyone rose, whatever disbelief that had lingered inside all gone, replaced by determination. With Bruce's gesture, they grabbed their gear, and followed him down the familiar path once more, until the machine stood tall in front of them. New cords were added, a few pieces moved around, and most of the dust wiped off, but it was working. It glowed in the dark, turned on but not fully activated. All they needed to do was put in the coordinates and whatnot.

"Cap? Should we start a test?" The scientist looked exhausted, but the look in his eyes told Steve that he would not sleep even if he tried. And so the captain nodded, the only confirmation needed for Bruce to proceed.

"Alright, everyone please move this way, it'll be safer."

The team moved along like sheep, all huddled up and silent. They stood by the touchscreen as Bruce began putting in numbers. Impatient, only the Rocket stepped forward, eyeing the screen with suspicion.

"What number are ya putting in?" The creature finally inquired.

"These here," Bruce replied gesturing to the upper left corner, "are our location right now, and here," he continued, pointing to the opposite side, "This is the thing to scan for or the coordinates of the exit point."

"Scan for?"

"Well, we're looking for him and infinity stones, right? Tony's a genius, he upgraded it to be able to pinpoint objects or people, as long as there is either only one or we know the approximate location."

Nodding along Thor and Steve were absolutely clueless on how that kind of technology could even be achieved, but the concept was clear. There are only one of each stone, and one Thanos, they didn't need to know where he is in order to find him.

"Okay, our location ready, now we just need a test run. Where should we go?"

They hadn't thought about that part. After all, the goal was to get to Thanos, not check out a possible vacation spot.

"Try close to New York, preferably remote." Thor spoke up before anyone else could, "That way if we can't get back through we're not too far away." Everyone nodded in agreement, tactically, it was the best call.

"Alright," Steve spoke up, "Let's go with the old S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Long Island. It's a quiet street normally, and the base has not been in use for years. A good place to land the Quinjet and no one in the way."

Bruce typed in the address, 12-18 Redfern Avenue, New York, as well as the exact coordinates just to be sure, and with one final glance up at the team, placed his hand on the starting switch.

His heartbeat loud and echoing in his head, Steve merely nodded in approval and watched as the scientist pulled down the lever. The soldier couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing, and yet it was true.

The lights above flickered, the circle began to glow, and the sounds of machine parts moving filled the otherwise silent room. Although eager to see what would happen, most of the team backed up a few steps.

A light current of air began to flow towards the tunnel, shuffling the papers in the room, and the lights above finally gave out. For a split second, nothing happened, but then suddenly, without warning, the arc-way filled with light, and a thundering boom ripped through the room, startling everyone and shaking the floor.

The light current turned to wind, pulling in objects, while the shaking of the building only increased with every paper that flew in.

"Bruce? What's going on!?" Thor's voice was barely audible over the roaring of the machine.

"I don't know! W-why?"

They had to retry, even Steve knew something was wrong. Breathing in as much air as he could, the captain tried to raise his voice above all the chaos. "SHUT IT DOWN!"

He wasn't even sure if the scientist heard him or not, either way, Bruce was already stumbling over to the control panel. Analysing and typing things, the scientist looked very confused at what was going on.

By now, heavier objects were beginning to get pulled in; books, pens, a calculator even. With every passing second, it seemed like the roar only increased, reaching the point where their heads began to spin.

Steve wasn't planning on leaving Bruce alone here, only gesturing to Thor to grab the racoon and get out. The scientist in front of him was going through everything he could find, typing furiously to shut the program down. Only when they started to feel themselves moving due to the wind, did Bruce turn around, despair in his eyes.

"ON MY COMMAND, PULL THAT CORD!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, and Steve instantly jumped over to help. With a few final clicks, Bruce once again put his hand on the lever.

"ON THREE! ONE! TWO!"

"_THREE_!"

Steve ripped the cord out, and Bruce yanked the lever down.

The seconds before the machine began to calm down seemed to stretch on for eternity. But eventually, the lights dimmed, and piece by piece, everything in the room had started to die down.

The last thing still awake, though barely, was the blinding glow from the portal, as if the doorway to the other end was still fighting to be open, even if it too began to disappear. The light cracked and peeled away, each piece of light a crystal, breaking down or fading back into the machine.

It seemed to be over. All of it. The machine didn't work, and the hope that had risen was once again squashed by the reality of their situation. Steve looked at the scientist in front of him, unable to imagine what the man must be feeling at this very moment. Walking up beside Bruce, the captain laid a hand on his shoulder, hoping for the gesture to be comforting and stood by his side while the last of the portal light crumbled.

Until that last light.

A shard of light that seemed too stubborn to die.

Only then, did it happen. A quick burst of light, hardly blinding, but enough to make Steve and Bruce jump back.

Maybe it was just the portal's final cry, the last fight for existence, but what it left behind said otherwise. After all, they had only hoped to get somewhere first, not track something just yet. They had hoped to open a portal, step through and get back. Then try opening a gateway to a more specific location, and so on, and so on. They didn't mean to bring someone through.

A body lay on the machine's platform. Or rather, fortunately, a living body, judging by the figure's slowly rising and falling form.

"Bruce? You seeing this?"

"No, no, y-you're definitely seeing the... person. God, I hope it's a person and not like aliens."

_Well, that could very well be a possibility._

Steve stepped forward quietly, ready to dodge if the figure were to lash out unpredictably, and motioned for Bruce to stand back. Step by step, he came closer, but once within a few feet, he was almost certain that the thing was not alien. In fact, judging by the skin colour, hair and other humanoid features, not to mention size, it was just a human.

A person they just yanked out of where ever, and who is now unconscious in the Avengers Compound. That's not ruling out the possibility that they could be injured and hundreds of miles away from home.

"Psst, Bruce, come over," Steve said in a hushed voice, "It's a person. They're unconscious."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm certain, now get over here." Steve was but a step away from the figure, but unsure of what to do. After all, he was no doctor, nor does he have much experience in dealing with portal-travelling side affects.

Bruce had shuffled, and let out a sigh of relief when he too realised that the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. They could've been stuck trying to speak alien or fight yet another extraterrestrial threat, but it was just a human.

"Should we move them?" Steve asked, hesitantly.

"Better not, for now. Move aside, let me see if they're injured." The doctor answered, crouching down next to his new patient. Bruce may be less skilled in the science of healing human bodies, but he knew a thing or two about whether or not to call for professional help.

The person was still laying on their side, back towards the Avengers, and with a slight nudge from Bruce, they were effortlessly turned over onto their back. Head rolled over, eyelids loosely shut. Definitely unconscious.

And it was a kid. Teenager. Maybe bordering on young adult, but nonetheless, too young to be mixed in with all this Avenger business. Medium length hair, but definitely a feminine cut. A flannel-like hoodie, with some cheap jeans, and a large black shoulder bag. A pretty typical teenager outfit, and luckily no _visible_ bruising, bleeding or broken bones.

Much to Steve's surprise, Bruce pulled out a small flashlight from one of his many pockets and gently opened one of the young woman's eye. Then the other eye. And again. And once more, before finally pulling away with a relieved sigh.

"Pupils aren't dilated, so hopefully no concussion, but we can't be completely sure until she wakes up." He concluded.

"Still not good," Steve crouched down next to the scientist, "So about moving her?"

"Normally I would say no, but we're in the middle of a space portal, so perhaps it would be safer to get her to the lounge room. Do you mind carry- Ah, yup! Just careful with the head!"

Before Bruce even asked him to, Steve was already gently lifting the teenager up. She did not weigh much in his arms, but Steve chucked it up to his super-strength and stood up slowly while trying to adjust his hold as per Bruce's instructions. Together they carefully walked away from the failed experiment and back through the hallways of the Compound. Things were about to either get mildly uncomfortable or downright depressing.

* * *

**NIGHT - 2nd OF JUNE, 2018 - NEAR THE AVENGER'S COMPOUND, EARTH**

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say, I should... Pepper..._

His last words. That was just over 36 hours ago, after which there was no word from Tony.

Before her fiance stepped through that magician's portal, he urged Pepper to get far away, somewhere safe. She and Happy were just leaving the park when the spaceship appeared. Less than a minutes after that there were reports of fighting around Washington Square Park; Iron Man, Spider-Man and two more unidentified men, described as 'wizards' by eyewitnesses.

_Tony? Oh my god, are you alright? What's going on?_

_Tell me you're not on that ship._

_God no, please tell me you're not on that ship._

Well, she knew the basics of what was happening, he was out there fighting, but no one had any idea who or even why. Before Pepper could blink he was just gone, off into space and with no way of contact.

That was just over 60 hours ago. 36 hours ago, people were turning to dust in the streets. Chaos and horror overtook the city, the whole world, in fact. 36 hours. For 36 hours Pepper didn't hear from any Avenger, or ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. members or government official about what was going on. Thousands of people had just vanished, but she had no way of knowing if her Tony was gone or not. Whether or not he too turned to dust, somewhere out there in space, all alone.

Although finally, she could get an answer. A Quinjet was seen flying over Manhattan towards the Compound upstate, and so, after an hour and a half of driving, Pepper was rushing into the building. Cold and silent, if not for the aeroplane, it would be easy to assume that the place was abandoned. The lobby was quiet, same with the parking lot, offices and any door she passed. Only the official Avenger's rooms remain, and to her relief, there were finally voices up ahead. Although when she entered the room, it was far from the scene she was expecting to see.

"Well, then do you have any better ideas?"

A racoon was talking. Considering how many other crazy things Pepper has seen by now, this should not be that surprising, but it was _talking_.

"It was an accident, but at least she's alive!"

Last time she saw Steve was over two years ago, and now he has a beard. The captain was pacing around the room, occasionally glancing at the team around him or at the couches, where there lay an unconscious young woman. Never a good sign.

"She came through that _portal_! We don't know if she's a threat or not!"

"A _teenager_. A _human_ teenager. How can that be a threat?"

The arguments went back and forth, with no one paying attention to the door from which Pepper had just come. In fact, even by the time she was in the centre of the room, no one noticed.

"Thor, you can't be siding with portal scientist and captain oblivious over here right? I mean it's-"

"What the hell is going on?" The bubble burst, and it had been too long without any answers. For 60 hours Pepper didn't know where her fiance was, and for 36 hours she didn't know if he was alive or not. Whatever teenager they were arguing over could wait a minute.

"Pepper," Bruce was the first to answer, "We- we didn't see-"

"What. Is going. On? Where is Tony?"

The silence that followed spoke volume. Bruce looked away in shame, others hadn't even seen or heard from Tony either for years or ever. No one knew, and no one had an answer.

Pepper collapsed into the couches, mindful of the teenager and buried her face in her palms. Her chest felt empty like a piece was just ripped out. Was he gone? _No, they just don't know where he is._ There's no contact, he's gone. _No, he's in space, that's why they don't know._ That can be as good as dead.

"Hey, hey, Ms Potts," She didn't Thor approach but didn't jump either when he suddenly gave her a hug, "I- I am sorry. But please, do not lose hope."

Pepper barely managed to nod in response, choosing to focus on controlling her shaking shoulders instead. She had learned to hope for the impossible with Tony, that he would come back, just like every other time, but the odds seemed to be forever against her. Meanwhile, the team of superheroes moved in closer to comfort Pepper.

At least the ones who knew her and did not try to kill her fiance a few years ago.

Steve knew what he did and was almost scared of what Pepper thinks of him now. Does she resent him? Or is the disappearance of Tony more important right now? He didn't want to find out and stayed further away, beside the teenager.

The still unconscious teenager. Steve himself has had the pleasure of being knocked out, but even he was getting a bit impatient. Curiosity dug at the entire team. Who was this? Did they really come from 12-18 Redfern? If so, then maybe the machine was not a lost cause, and with a few more careful trials, they could really use it to the full extent.

"W-we lost, and well, that guy did was he as going to do." While Steve had drifted off into his head, it seems like the others were catching Pepper up on what happened. Well, to the best of their abilities. Thor barely spoke, Bruce only knew his side and Rocket chipped in with what the 'Guardians' were up to during that time.

Steve was barely listening to the explanation. He knew his side, which lined up closely with Bruce's, and the rest wasn't particularly relevant. They met up, and together they lost. That was all there is to know.

With Bruce and Thor were comforting Pepper, the racoon wandered off, seeing as he did not know Pepper at all and had not even met Tony. Meanwhile, Steve stared out the window, lost in thought and trying to plan their next move. Therefore, no one noticed the sixth person in the room finally wake up.

Now, many thoughts were going through the captain's head. Ideas and plans and strategies, but little did he know how little of those would matter. All those thoughts would soon be unnecessary, although thousands more would soon take their place. Arguably, much more complicated and life-altering thoughts.

No one could say exactly how long the girl was awake before they realised. In fact, if she had not moved and stayed silent, they probably would not have noticed for even longer. Nevertheless, she did shift and began waking up.

With everyone else comforting Pepper, or in the racoon's case on the other side of the room, Steve was the first to notice. Not wanting to draw too much attention, he merely leaned against the back of the couch, just to be there in case the kid freaks out.

The girl's eyes shut tighter, before opening and almost instantly closing. A few more blinks and she was staring up at the ceiling, not yet moving but definitely awake. For some time the teenager merely lay there, until it seems like her memories came rushing back, after which her face morphed into confusion, and possibly fear.

"It's okay. You're safe." Steve finally spoke up, hoping to calm the teen and drawing the other's attention to her too.

The girl almost jumped, although it seemed like any minimal movement caused her head to spin. As she brought a hand up to cover her eyes from the light, the teenager quietly spoke up.

"Shh... Loud." After a few deep breaths, she then added on. "You sound like someone I know."

"Probably," Steve answered, though much quieter.

No one bothered pushing for a name or explanation from the kid. She was clearly still waking up, possibly dizzy and confused, but it didn't take long for her to finally take a look at her surroundings. Opening her eyes again, the teen turned her head around to where Steve was standing, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of who had answered her.

Now, Steve was pretty sure any typical teenager in the world would recognise 'Captain America' pretty quickly, even with the beard he wasn't that different. And sure, he's been labelled a war criminal, but surely that wouldn't cause such a strong reaction. The moment the teenager spotted Steve, her face morphed into pure shock.

Well, at first, a good shock. A surprised face of a little child that got what they wanted for Christmas. Though that lasted for barely two seconds, and soon morphed into utter confusion. The type of confusion when seeing a teacher outside of school or a parent is back home earlier than expected; the impossible confusion.

She took a few seconds just staring at Steve, after which she began looking around at her surroundings. Every second that passed every new face that she saw, only added on to the growing fear in her eyes.

Even with Bruce smiling gently, and Pepper giving a friendly wave, the teenager did not get any calmer. In fact, it seemed like with every gesture or 'Hello' given, the panic only increased. The confusion was understandable, but fear seemed a bit too strong.

"Wha- What's going on? Why are you- am I here? No... so you're- " She suddenly cut off her rambling, and once again turned to Steve Rogers, "You _are_ Chris Evans, right?"

_Chris Evans? Who the hell is Chris Evans?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it's unclear, then yes, this person just called MCU Steve Rogers, 'Chris Evans' instead. Hmm, what could that possibly mean?
> 
> Chapter two honestly explains and gets into the drama a little more, so probably read that one before judging!
> 
> Hope you liked it anyway!


	2. Realisations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So mystery girl wakes up, calls Steve Rogers 'Chris Evans' instead, and proceeds to explain her side of the story.
> 
> I mean who believes in alternate universes anyway?
> 
> The teenager certainly isn't too happy about this.

**NIGHT - 2nd OF JUNE, 2018 - AVENGER'S COMPOUND, EARTH**

"You _ are _Chris Evans, right?"

In hindsight, they perhaps did not do that good of a job of introducing the girl to her new situation. A wave and 'you're safe' wasn't enough to explain, where, how and when the girl was. But the panic, confusion and now a completely wrong name, left the team possibly even more confused than the teenager.

_ Maybe she hit her head. _Bruce hoped that wasn't the case, but it seems like the girl recognised Steve, even if she did name him 'Chris Evans'. A strangely specific name. Not to mention her accent was wrong, to say the least. Not American.

"We're sorry to scare you... I think," Bruce began, bringing the teen's attention to him, "But look I promise you, we're the Avengers. You are safe, and everything will turn out fine, okay? I'm sorry that this has all happened. My name is Bruce Banner."

The girl began ever so slightly shaking her head the moment Bruce mentioned 'Avengers', and with every word that Bruce said after the shake become stronger. Part of her face resembled an are-you-shitting-me face, while the other shock.

Whatever reassurance was given only escalated the situation, and by the time Bruce stopped talking the girl was slowly scrambling onto her feet and way more panicked than before.

"Ms, please," Steve added, causing the teenager to whip around to face him again, "It's alright. Just let us explain what happened. Firstly, what's your name?"

She seemed to try to answer, but no sound came out. For several seconds neither party said a word, but it really seemed like the girl was trying to say something. The Avengers waited patiently, even Pepper and Thor were fully paying attention.

"Ah- I... So I just..." She paused, seemingly collecting her thoughts to formulate some sort of sentence, "Just like, okay, no. No, no, no. No. What. Why. How."

"Ms, please-" Someone began.

"NO!" Only to be instantly cut off, "Don't try to calm me down right now. Please. What the hell is going on? You- You're like, the Avengers and shit, but not like _ actually _the Avengers, right..."

* * *

**NIGHT - ** OF ****, 20** - UNKNOWN, EARTH**

In front of her, behind, on and in front of a couch, were none other than the MCU cast.

_ Characters? No, the cast, it has to be cast. _

They stared at her, confused, and she stared back, shocked and panicked. The Marvel actors. They had to be the actors. Even if one of them had just referred to himself as his character, Bruce Banner, the scientist, and the Hulk. But that's impossible. Right?

She was glad to be on her feet, as it gave her the chance to leave some room between herself and the crazy people. And so she backed away, backed away in a place she knew she had seen before. Stubbornly looking around for some hidden camera, her supposed location was obvious.

It was never shown fully on camera, but judging by the couches and tall windows through which the rest of the building complex could be seen, it was clearly the Avenger's Compound. She knew that. She knew a lot of things about the Compound. When it was first shown, and how it was ultimately blown up.

Now she stood in it, somehow, with no memory of getting there.

"Okay, well," Her attention was once again drawn to 'Chris Evans', "Let me start then. As he mentioned, this is Bruce Banner," He said gesturing to who _ should _ be Mark Ruffalo, "And on the couches are Virginia Potts and Thor," He continued as if it were normal to believe the actors were indeed their characters, "And I am not, um, Chris, but rather Steve Rogers. You may have heard of me as Captain America."

There likely isn't a Marvel fan who _hasn't _heard that. Fans know full well who Steven Grant Rogers is and his entire MCU arc. The teen knew plenty about Steve, and Bucky, and HYDRA and all the shit that goes down in the many movies. None of that information is new or crazy. 

However, waking up somewhere were shouldn't exist and talking to people who believe they are who they cannot be, was indeed crazy. Jokes about the cast actually being their characters were coming to mind, but this seems like a step too far.

The 'Avengers' kept staring at her, waiting for a reaction. Not that she knew what to say.

"May we know your name?" 'Bruce' once again asked.

_ Should I even tell them my name? _She wasn't sure what to do. There's no crash course in this stuff. She should lie. Unless they already know, and this really is still some prank show and then she'll just look-

"Hm, guess the chick finally woke up."

All heads swirled around to the little creature that had re-entered the room. A raccoon stood with its arms crossed in front, a sour expression on its face. No, not any 'raccoon'. Rocket.

He was talking. He was right there, and he was talking. Rocket was real. She couldn't believe it, that's not possible. No. She couldn't-

An involuntary yelp escaped her throat.

She felt her knees hit the floor but didn't remember falling. The world spun around, too many thoughts flashing through her mind. She was definitely still conscious, but it felt like her body and mind were separate, one not in control of the other.

Someone was next to her, but she stared at the ground.

They were saying something comforting, but she didn't listen.

If this was real, if this nightmare was somehow true, no matter what they said it wouldn't help. No matter how many times the person reiterated that they'll get her home, that they'll help, it wouldn't change the fact that she was too far from home for them to help.

"It's okay, please, just tell us your name okay?"

It felt like the world finally slowed to its normal pace, and words began to register in her head. Her name, right. There's no point hiding. Hardly anything mattered at that moment.

"A-Alexandra."

"Okay, Alexandra. Can you slowly breathe with me?" _ Was I even breathing fast? _

Apparently, yes, since when she went to take a slower breath, it felt like a rock was embedded in her chest. She coughed at the uncomfortable feeling and tried again. And again.

"One more." The voice she now recognised as Ma- No, Bruce Banner.

As she started breathing normally, things around her seemed to come into focus. The unmistakable voice of Rocket arguing that he didn't think she'd react that way. Captain America himself lecturing a raccoon, and none other than Pepper Potts kneeling on her other side.

_ They don't know. They don't fucking know. _

_ More importantly, they don't know how much _ I _ know. _

"Okay, you're doing much better," Pepper's voice was soothing, a person used to having others around them freak out. Well, Tony was just one example of that. "Do you want to stay here or-"

"Um," Pepper stopped as Alexandra spoke up. Suddenly everyone else in the room quietened down too, likely listening in. "I-is it 2018? The year, you know, uh, the year 2018?"

"Oh, uh, yes," Bruce hurried to answer, "The 2nd of June if I'm correct."

_ Shit. Shit, shit. _

"Uh, we're sorry if that's a surprise for you?" Bruce suddenly added on.

"S-sorry, I- I just..." _ I guess I said that out loud. _She was surprised Cap hasn't hit her with a 'Language!'. Other things were probably more important at the moment anyway.

Like Alexandra's situation. She took a deep breath before her next words. It seems like the only way out was to just spill the beans, and yet the words were so hard to form.

"2018. 2nd of June, huh?" She was mumbling, on the verge of spiralling too, and everyone was listening in. "I- I think I have a bit of a problem here."

"Yes, we're very sorry for everything, and we promi-"

"No, no, seriously," With a shaking voice, she interrupted Pepper, again, "If it's 2018... and ya'll are here, the way you are..." Alexandra looked up at Steve and Rocket with those words, a horrible feeling settling in her stomach as she continued speaking, "Then, Thanos just won... right?"

Her words were barely a whisper at the end, and yet the worry in the room snapped, tension filling up the free space. Alexandra saw the way people's eyes hardened with fury and grief, and how some of the previously friendly looks turned almost murderous.

She's never been looked at that way before. True to stories, it was terrifying.

"How do you know that name?" A deep and powerful voice cut through the tension, followed by some swift and angry steps. Looking up, Alexandra came face to face with the god of Thunder walking towards her.

"Thor…Thor, wait, Thor!" Steve rushed over to stand in the god's way, hands waving in a calming gesture, "Let's not jump to any conclusions about… anything." Although Steve was saving her from a bolt of lightning when the Captain turned back, his eyes were very far from trusting.

"How in all of the 9 realms, do you, a human, know that name? And what had just happened?" Despite Steve's efforts, Thor was one step away from her, and Alexandra was not a fan of the way he looked a little… sparky.

Unfortunately, Thor's words made sense. She shouldn't know. She shouldn't know anything, and why for the love of Thor did Alexandra say the name 'Thanos'. Her mention, her simple knowledge of the Mad Titan, caused every person in the room to suddenly turn against her. _ Stupid. _

"I- uh, I'm just…" _ Alright time for the truth, just say it. _ "I- think I don't belong here." _ Perfect. _

With no friendly eye looking towards, Alexandra couldn't stop herself from looking around for something nice. From Bruce's cautious expression to Steve and Thor's steely eyes, and looking at Rocket would likely send her into another spiral, the only person she could face without biting her tongue was Pepper. Cautious, of course, yet also still concerned. That Alexandra could face.

"I mean, I- I mean that I think I'm not… this…." Clearly her throat once more, Alexandra had to raise her voice to even get the message across, "I'm not from this universe!"

"Come again?" Bruce didn't hesitate to push for an explanation.

"I'm not… look it's complicated. Like really fucking messed up and complicated and- "She looked around again, going through her mind for something to convince them.

"Okay, so, uh, Thor," Judging by his expression this was probably how she died, but no going back now, "O-one time when you and Loki were like kids, he turned into a snake, right? And then you love snakes, so you went to like pick it up. B-but then, um, he turned back and was like 'bleh it's me!' and then he…. um, he stabbed you and you were 8. I mean, you guys, you were both 8 years old…."

A silence stretched out. Not a word was spoken. Alexandra felt a fight or flight response activate in her and jumped to continue her explanation.

"AND, and, I know this, b-because in my world it's like… a movie? There's like 20-something by now, and like, they're sort of about, um, you? All of you, I mean, like not just Thor but… yeah…."

  
  


"What the f-"

* * *

Steve paced towards the kitchen. He turned and walked back towards the couches. He's been like this for about 27 minutes. Steve knows because he started counting at the fourth turn. It kept his brain busy, kept it from overthinking. Thinking about things that were odd, or impossible, or literally world-bending.

And suddenly he was thinking those thoughts.

Thor begrudgingly confirmed the story, and even Bruce added on about how Thor once told the story on some planet called Sarkar, or Sakaar. Doesn't matter. It was real. This girl, Alexandra, knew something impossible. More importantly, she knew something that only an ally of Thor's would know.

The thunder god calmed down pretty quickly after that actually, but that wasn't the end. No, it was the beginning.

That was less than forty minutes ago. Alexandra, or Alex as she insisted, didn't add much afterwards. With all the questions they threw at her, she began to spiral again, and the team then reluctantly listened to Pepper. Although, before the woman shooed them away from the panicking teenager, Alex mumbled something incoherent about 'Marvel' and comic books.

The expert on dealing with panicking individuals, Pepper helped the teenager get back onto the couch and ran off to make some tea. Upon returning, Pepper had to almost order Alex to stop talking, as the girl was beginning to stutter even more, and her voice began to break.

In any case, Alex wasn't an enemy, but she wasn't exactly a direct ally either. She was a mystery that they all desperately wanted to know more about.

"How's the tea?" Pepper's calming voice sounded from the couches. Daring to glance over, he saw Pepper kneeling beside Alex. The girl simply nodded, before taking another sip, her previously nervous manner mostly calmed down. Just the occasional twitch when someone spoke, or a glance of awe in their direction.

"Thanks. Uh, thank you." Those were her first words in a while.

"It's okay. But, um, crazy day, huh?" Pepper sat down next to the teenager, and judging by where the conversation was about to go, they may finally get some answers. "You've been through a shocking event, and it seems like it's only gotten crazier for you. I know this may be the last thing you want to talk about, but, could you please explain what you meant earlier?"

The girl kept drinking her tea but nodded at Pepper's suggestion. Steve could see that she was thinking, and not just countless thoughts swirling in her mind, but constructive thoughts. The Captain gestured for the others to come a little closer.

Alex finished off her cup, grimacing at the strong bottom-of-the-cup flavour. Shifting, she stood up, only to fall back onto the couch. But placing the cup on the coffee table in front, she took a deep breath and looked back at the team.

"So, uh, any of you ever studied quantum physics?" With a terrible San Francisco accent, the girl asked the last question Steve thought she would ask. But not giving them time to answer, she continued. "Sorry, just trying to break the ice but I just realised it wouldn't work because, well... I don't know where to start, actually. This- This is all wild."

"How do you know something I've only said to a few people close to me?" Thor was less angry, but still on edge, "Are you not human?"

"Um, no. As in, I am human, I'm pretty sure."

"Then how the hell do-"

"Thor, just, give her a moment." Steve interrupted, probably a good thing seeing as the tone of that last question went back to unfriendly, "Let's jump back a bit Alex, you mentioned 'Marvel'. What's that?"

"Ah, that's a big question..." She paused, thinking where to begin, "Okay, okay, so... Did I mention the not from this world bit?" Several heads nodded, "So, no point trying to stretch this out. If you're really Steve Rogers, and you're Thor, the freaking _God of Thunder_, then I'm in the wrong universe."

"Yeah, you've mentioned that, but-" Rocket began.

"I'm getting there, Rocket," She cut him off, surprising the little creature with its name, "Wrong universe. Because last I checked none of this is real. Steve Ro- no, Captain America really, isn't real. Asgardians don't exist either. Neither do the Guardians of the Galaxy and stuff."

"I'm sorry, what?" At least Thor didn't sound angry.

"I-I know it must sound crazy, insane even, but I promise you I'm not making this shit up. It's already crazy enough as it is for me." No one answered her. Alex took it as a cue to keep going and thought of all her nerdy knowledge to get through this. "To me, in my world, I guess, I think sometime in the 1940s, there was this comic book company created, called 'Marvel Comics'."

"There were plenty of people working there, but the most remembered is a man called Stan Lee. Well, that's not his real name apparently, it's like Stanley M-something. Not the point. He helped create these characters, um, these superhero-comic-book characters and it's sort of... you guys?"

"Then _ way _later, some movies were made, and that storyline must be this one. This universe, I mean. Something called 'Infinity War' seems to have happened just now and well... next up is 'Endgame'."

Alex suddenly just stopped there, a sad look crossing her face. The others took what she said and tried to let it sink in, still mostly disbelieving what she was saying. Given what she said, if it's true anyway, 'Endgame' is what the future holds, and it doesn't sound pleasant.

Meanwhile, that very 'Endgame' replayed in Alex's mind. Well, two scenes in particular. _ It's okay, let me go. And I... am... Iron Man. _How do you tell someone that they are fated to die in a fictional movie universe? Or worse, how do you say that to their friends and family?

"How- but that's, it can't be possible." Bruce was more talking to himself rather than the rest of the group. "Schrödinger must be laughing in his grave..."

"I'm still voting for threat." Rocket stated nonchalantly. As if it didn't quite have a big impact on anything.

"Rocket-" Thor started.

"What? Detailed sure, but it's more like this is some bullshit spiel, and she can just read minds or something."

"I'm not reading-"

"Then give us something else." The raccoon countered, "Something you can't possibly read in our minds and tell back to us."

Alex stopped to think. A slight panic started to build up, and many 'what-ifs' were popping into her head. She had to convince them soon, but nothing useful was coming to mind.

"Uh... I know Spider-Man's real name is Peter Parker?" _ Wait, no Pepper would know- _

"I know about Peter." The woman in question spoke up.

Steve shook his head at Alex, a simple gesture conveying '_ Not good enough _'. Once again, she scrambled through her mind, thinking of what had just happened, and what the team could double-check.

"Uh, okay... I know where Clint was when the snap happened, and that his entire family is kinda gone." '_ Kinda gone' good job there Alex. _Perhaps the wording could have been better, especially the part referring to the event as the 'snap', but no taking back what she had already said.

"Some of us, know that already," Steve answered. Before Alex could think again, he continued speaking. "Look, I don't even know if I want to believe you. It hardly compares with some other stuff that's been going on, but what you claim to be true is still pretty insane. What's something we don't know, but we can confirm later on. Something that might happen soon."

_ Well, what happens after Infinity War? Endgame, sure, but what happens right after... _

"OH!" Alex almost jumped with the realisation, "Captain Marvel! She'll be coming here soon."

Judging by the teenager's exclamation, it was almost as if the team were supposed to be relieved at that information. Not that any of them knew who this new character was, and why her title was the same as the supposed 'comic book company'. Steve just gestured with his hand for Alex to keep going.

"Nick Fury met her in the 90s. Before he, well, _ you know... _ " They did, in fact, _ know _, "He sent her an emergency signal with a little pager thingy. She should be here any day."

"Her real name is Carol Danvers. She, along with Fury, her friend Maria, and a cat, that's actually a flerken, named Goose, they helped the Skrulls run into hiding from the Kree Empire, and Danvers said she would end the Kree war. But, uh, we don't know the consequences of that so far."

As she finished her half-assed monologue, Alex looked up to see everyone staring, much like when she first woke up. Confused, but curious. She could only guess that was a good thing since they were very friendly to her before she revealed anything.

"You say she'll be here in a few days?" Steve inquired with a sigh.

"Uh, yeah, at the very least in about 20 days."

"What happens in 20 days?" Thor suddenly chipped in.

_ Oh, you know, Tony is brought back to Earth. One day later and Carol would be bringing home a body. Two bodies actually, if Nebula needs to eat as much as a human. _

"It's difficult to explain, but, um," _ C'mon dig yourself out of his one Alexandra J. _ "From what's shown she just appears at some point, but it's known for a fact that she reappears later around the 20-day mark."

"But how do you-" Bruce added on, only to be cut off pretty soon.

"Bruce," Steve said with his Captain America voice and gestured for everyone else to back off, "You know a lot of things. Perhaps good things, but we may need to wait a while before we can completely trust you."

"Yeah, I wouldn't blame you..." Alex mumbled quite loudly, though the back of her throat ached, signalling that the stress tears may be coming soon. Not to mention it sucks not being trusted, or liked much, by your favourite characters. Which was crazy enough as it is.

"How about I show you to a guest room?" Since Pepper was quiet throughout most of the previous conversation, Alex shuddered at _ Gwyneth Paltrow's _ voice at her side. But turning around, Alex was almost relieved actually. It was still Pepper Potts by her side, and that she was not jumping realities every other second.

"Uh, Pepper" Bruce hesitantly walked a bit closer, "That might not be-"

"Might not be what? Safe?" Pepper bit back, the stress of everything beginning to crash down on her again, "She's a kid. We're not just going to lock her up in the living room for days on end."

Alex silently remarked to herself that if they were to lock her up, it would not be in the living room. On one hand, it did hurt that she was not trusted whatsoever, yet, on the other hand, she knew they had every reason to do so. For just a moment, she considered pretending to be Loki but instantly realised what sort of train wreck that would be. Thor would see right through her.

As Alex sat in her own self-pity, trying her best to avoid breaking down, again, in front of the Avengers, Pepper had stood up from the couches and gathered up her own things.

Lending a hand, Pepper helped the teen stand up, and on surprisingly stable legs, Alex followed the woman out of the room, only her black bag laying forgotten and blended in against the dark couch. Glancing back when at the doorway, Alex was met with several eyes watching her leave, some distrusting, others just curious. Either way, she made quite an impact.

An impact on everything.

The hero's entire lives were laid out in front of them, all their greatest accomplishments and failures. Most had a hard time believing that someone decided to pre-write their fate in such a cruel way. That someone decided to see them lose, on such a large scale, and at the cost of trillions of lives.

However, it's only fictional trillions, isn't it? If Alex is really from another universe, then writing 'and then they all died' on a movie script means nothing. No pain, no sorrow. 

Steve retreated back to his old tactic. Taking things at face value. Much like when he crashed a plane in the 40s and woke up to aliens flying down from the sky. Just trying not to overthink everything. He did, however, form a small plan during that conversation.

* * *

Alex followed Pepper out of the living room and out of the laboratory next to it. Aside from some rooms and training facilities, the corridor with a large open window and a hospital room on her left, were the last places that Alex could recognise. The last places that were shown in any Marvel movie. Leaving that area felt like leaving a safe space.

No matter how many times Alex pinched herself, everything stayed the same. Plus she could recall everything that had just happened, something that's never been done in her other dreams. If she did accidentally get drunk or high, things would probably be a little more insane. If that was even possible.

Not waking up, however, meant that she could now see the rest of the building complex. Actually, Alex was probably the first 'Marvel' fan to walk through the building, unless the movie set version counts. Although she was walking through it under less than ideal circumstances.

Perhaps an ideal situation would be if she was from the same universe and just happened to be visiting. Maybe if Alex was some long lost relative of Captain America. She'd be trusted at least, and Pepper wouldn't be aware of every step Alex took. Not that the teenager knew that.

Pepper may have volunteered to take the teen to a guest room, but it's not like the woman herself fully trusted Alex. She was on edge, tense, and ready for anything. But she was Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, she hid behind a mask and acted like everything was fine. Alex didn't suspect anything, yet anyway.

They went up some stairs and rounded a corner, the large Compound window coming into full view. Although the sun had long set, the building's lights shone bright enough to see most of it. It was a typical view to Pepper, her home, but definitely not to the fanatic following her.

"Holy sh- It's the Compound. I mean I knew I was in it, but like, it's actually it. And the Quinjet!" Alex exclaimed rushing over to the balcony's edge, trying to get as close as possible to the window.

For a moment, Pepper didn't register the words spoken, and adrenaline rushed through her body. Is this some attack? An escape? What if she falls down on accident?

Pepper hurried over to where Alex was, mostly acting out of her instinct to danger, but as the words clicked in her mind, it all seemed highly unnecessary. The teenager merely stood there, her eyes wide open and a look of awe on her face. She was just enjoying the view.

"Uh, yeah." Pepper cleared her voice, "One of many Quinjets that we use."

"Wow, i-it's just amazing. This whole place."

Alex was like a child on Christmas, or that's what her eyes said. Her face showed how tired, stressed, and worried she really was, but even with all that piling on top of the poor teen, Alex was somewhat excited to be here. That thought alone put the older woman's heart at ease.

With a gesture from Pepper to keep walking, Alex hurried to keep up with, seeing as she would otherwise get lost. They had taken far too many turns for the still quite shocked teenager to keep up with. Nonetheless, their destination wasn't far, and suddenly Alex nearly walked into Pepper, who had paused outside some door.

"Here's one of the guest rooms," Pepper said gently as she entered, the lights above automatically turning on. "It's a little smaller than our own rooms, but those are for more permanent residents, so." She shrugged as to show there's not much they can do about it right now.

Alex wasn't complaining. "You kidding me? This is, I mean it's…"

The room was wide, modern. A large bed in one corner, with a TV opposite it, and one long wardrobe built into the left wall. There was an area for study, shelves already stacked with random books and a desk, no doubt some futuristic desk. It's basically what anyone would expect when Tony Stark was designing the building, even if it was supposedly 'just a guest bedroom'.

And then it really hit her. It's night, and she was going to sleep here. She was going to stay here until she went home. If she was ever even going to get back home, a place so far out of reach at the moment. Dread filled her stomach, and she almost felt sick, the previous stinging in her eyes warning her again, that tears were inevitable tonight.

Alex turned to face Pepper, one of the few people who seemed to be somewhat on her side, and couldn't help but feel immense sorrow for the woman. Despite the look of sympathy that was thrown at the teen, Alex felt like she should be the one giving that look. The teenager felt the world drop onto her shoulders, and she felt the panic speeding up her thought process. She knew things, a lot of things, and what if the Avengers will take that as some sort of hope. 

"Look, I'm sorry." Alex began, "I'm really sorry about everything that's happened, and I feel like I caused a problem, and it's not fair to all of you that- "

"No, no. Don't apologise, please." This time it was Pepper that interrupted Alex. "Please, don't apologise. It's late, we're all tired. Um, but do you want some food or...?"

"Uh, no. Thank you. I think I might just crash now." The truth was she just needed to be alone for a second. To process some things.

"We'll see you in the morning then, Alex."

"Uh yea, actually," _ Should have started off with this name before, _ "You can just call me AJ. It's normally what I go by anyway."

"Yeah, okay." Pepper didn't even seem surprised by the change of name. Judging by how tired she looked, Pepper probably didn't care much and was going to go sleep soon anyway, "If you need me, AJ, I'm down the hall, turn left twice and knock on the first door. Also, there are spare clothes and pyjamas in the closet, feel free to use them!"

Alex barely had time to register the instructions given before the door was closed, and the sound of clicking heels echoed away. After that, silence enveloped the teenager, and she was finally alone. Well, alone doesn't quite describe it, there were people in the building, she somewhat knew where to find Pepper, but that doesn't help.

For once, there was no one to discuss Marvel theories with, in fact, no friends to turn to in general. Never mind the fact that Marvel in-universe AJ could be out there, making the same friends AJ made in 2018. Making the same decisions but now under the threat of half the universe being decimated. Snapped away, like they didn't matter. Was MCU Alexandra even alive? Were her friends and family alive?

Stress. Anxiety. Things were piling up.

People don't jump dimensions and just be okay.

AJ could put on a mask when people were around, she did it with friends sometimes too, on days where smiling didn't come as naturally, so she could do it here with strangers. When AJ is around the Avengers, the actual unbelievably real _ Avengers_, she'll try and... function. Even if she couldn't pull it off that well, she wouldn't break down. Just yet.

However, when the doors close and the lights go out for the night, there's no need to hide. Whether or not the teenager crashed on to the bed, and stayed there staring at the ceiling most of the night, the occasional silent, or sobbing, tears, was not important to anyone. When she blinked in and out of consciousness, stress pulling her into a restless unconsciousness, no one interrupted her. If F.R.I.D.A.Y. did spook her at some point, suggesting seeking out comfort, and AJ snapped at her, then no one needed to know.

Only as the sky began to shine, the sun peeking over the edge of the horizon did AJ closed her eyes and drifted off into a few hours of solid, dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WILL finish this, it's been in my head for too long now.
> 
> A lot of things were brushed over here, but the next chapter is questions and answers. From both sides.
> 
> Also, you might be able to spot Steve's 'plan' if you re-read carefully :) It'll be explained later anyway don't worry.


	3. Proof and Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions and answers from both sides.  
And also proof, like actual proof of what Alex's saying.
> 
> Scott meanwhile is very confused as to why the rogue Avengers are here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It ain't much but it's still something.  
Things will really pick up next chapter!  
Thanks for your patience.

**NIGHT - 2nd OF JUNE, 2018 - AVENGER'S COMPOUND, EARTH**

When Pepper and Alexandra left the room, a haunting silence enveloped the remaining people. The words that the teenager said lingered in the air, taunting them, almost insulting, and worst of all scaring them. She knew too much, far too much for a typical teenager.

Bruce retreated to the kitchen, making more tea perhaps, muttering under his breath, likely thinking about the situation in a scientific way. Thor sat down at a desk, munching on some crackers, a mix of emotions in his eyes, mostly jumping between mistrust and concern.

Rocket seemed to be better off than the others; his previous theories of mind-reading and lying still holding strong. Although it didn't mean the creature was anywhere near relaxed. Everyone had a lot to process, a lot to either accept at face value or throw away till later convenient.

Steve, however, jumped to action the moment Pepper and Alex's footsteps died away. The Captain wasn't going to waste the opportunity he bought for the team in that conversation. Some others glanced at his quick movement but didn't question anything; everyone had a right to their own reactions.

Steve stepped aside from the others and took out a phone. Well, it was really _his_ phone, but seeing as he's gone through quite a few in the two years of exile, there wasn't much emotional connection to this one either. Just a means of contact between the other burners the team had carried.

The contacts saved were scarce, a few red herrings to throw off anyone who could have stolen it, but Steve only needed one at the moment. Selecting the number saved as 'Rachelle', the phone rang for a painfully long time before a familiar Russian spy picked up.

"How did it go?" Her voice was almost hopeful, twisting up Steve's stomach.

"I need you to find Barton." Cap declared, hoping his tone would carry over just how serious of a situation they were in.

"A little busy here with other things too, you know." Natasha answered, "Steve, what happened? Don't lie to me."

"It's, uh, a bit hard to explain. But please, just for now, just trust me and head to Barton's. Find him. Bring him here. Please..."

The phone went silent for a few seconds. "Roger that, Rogers." A click followed, signalling the end of the call.

Harsh? Perhaps. Deserved? A little. Steve had after all completely ignored answering any of her hopeful questions, likely connotating that something had gone terribly wrong.

"Who's this Barton?" A scratchy voice said. The raccoon, of course.

"Clint. Alexandra mentioned him." Steve muttered, crashing down on the couches.

"What about him?" Rocket asked again, not even sounding interested, "His family died, right? Big deal."

_Maybe raccoon stew would be tasty. Are alien raccoons much different? _Either way, the rodent was taking a step into some dangerous territory.

"He's a friend." Bruce cut in, sitting down on the couches across from Steve, a fresh cup of tea in hand, "Be a little considerate."

"We all lost someone."

That silenced the group. A blunt, direct, still quite an inconsiderate reply, but it was a fact. Everyone in the universe has lost someone, themselves included, the empathy universal between all.

Bruce broke the silence first. "Was Clint on his farm?"

"I- erm," The opportunity Steve won, "I don't know actually."

When no follow-up questions came at him, Steve looked up to see everyone staring at him, more confused, if that was even possible.

"I don't know. Because I didn't know that his family died."

Silence. 

"You didn't know...?"

"Nat's going to his place!"

"So that means Alex..."

"Yeah, she said that." Steve confirmed the last echo of questions, "Maybe because she guessed, but I don't think so. No one should even know about Clint's family. Much less know that they're all gone."

"A-are you saying she's not lying?" Thor uttered, "It's all true?"

"When Natasha checks on Clint, we'll know for sure. We can ask Alex more tomorrow on the matter, but Natasha’s our solid confirmation. A failsafe, just in case."

No words were spoken. In fact aside from the gentle distant noises of bugs and birds alike, there was not another sound of life in the room. And suddenly it hit them. There could be proof. Their own confirmed evidence of everything that Alexandra had said. But whether or not they wanted that, was a whole other question.

* * *

**MORNING - <strike>8th of</strike> JUNE, <strike>2020</strike> 2018 - MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE**

Alexandra woke too suddenly. Too suddenly for someone who stared at the ceiling for most of the night, brain too worked up to even relax. She didn't change last night either, just crashed and hoped to drift off, any second of sleep a blessing. Just another ten minutes more would be amazing.

Since it was all annoying. Simply speaking everything was annoying. The sun was shining at an angle too low for comfort, almost right into Alex's eyes. The bed too stiff, completely untouched, and nothing like home. There was a weird knocking outside and someone called her name.

"AJ? Are you awake?" That must be what woke her up then - Pepper's concerned voice and gentle knocking. "Breakfast is ready. It would be nice for you to eat. You didn't have dinner yesterday, sorry about that, by the way."

She was in the Avengers Compound, with the real Avengers. Of course. However, just as the thought of pretending to keep sleeping crossed her mind, her stomach loudly disagreed. Food would be amazing. In the battle of food versus sleep, food won this time.

"Y-yeah, I'm up." Her voice slightly hoarse, AJ tried her best to yell loud enough for Pepper to hear. "Uh, I just need to change."

"Alright, I'll just wait for you outside."

_Dammit. _Now Alex actually has to get up, and not pretend to wake up, but actually spend as long as possible before having to speedrun her morning routine and get to school on time. Except she wasn't going to school.

_'-spare clothes and pyjamas in the closet, feel free to use them!'_

AJ had forgotten what she was wearing. Some old jeggings, convincing real jeans look-alikes, and her favourite flannel hoodie, oversized and _incredibly_ soft. She decided to at least change shirts and pants, but keep the hoodie, a small comfort in the middle of everything.

And she was wearing a Marvel shirt.

As she unzipped the hoodie, the shirt stood out like a sore thumb, one of her favourites, and a bit of an unfortunate shirt to wear at the moment. And oh god was she lucky it was a cold winter, driving her to zip up the hoodie for once. Good proof sure, but so many questions about what was _on_ the shirt. A periodic table with a good majority of hero's and villain's names listed on it, way more than the ones that actually exist in the MCU, because, of course, AJ would wear that kind of thing. She's that kind of nerd. How coincidental.

As Pepper had told her, there was anything from sweatpants and everything to underwear in the guest room closet. A tiny official Avenger's logo was sewn into each piece, which made it seem like some sort of uniform. It was technically the best merchandise possible, officially from the Marvel universe. She settled for what appeared to be training gear, to appear at least somewhat formal in front of strangers. Or semi-strangers.

Washing up a bit in the bathroom, Alex finally saw how much of a wreck she looked like. Even with all the unkempt hair brushed, teeth cleaned, and face washed, and she still felt like a half-drowned rat. Rummaging through the cabinets, the teenager deflated with relief when there lay an unopened packet of make-up. Although there was enough for way more, AJ settled for just enough so that others could think she actually slept that night. Who knew Tony would pack just about _everything_ into a guest room?

_You can do this. You can do this._ The mantra only kind of helped. Marching over to the main door, AJ didn't give herself enough time to back down and stepped out into the corridor. Pepper's natural calm manner worked brilliantly on the anxious teenager, and with some polite small talk that comes with meeting strangers, the duo headed back to the common room. The day began.

* * *

"How'd you sleep?"

That was the first thing anyone said to her after she had already entered the room, was given breakfast and had nearly finished eating. Well, the team acknowledged her presence, nods and half-smiles at most, but nothing else.

Alex turned to see Captain America himself standing at the farther end of the kitchen, patiently waiting for a reply.

"Uh..." _Be polite, AJ, _"How sleep-deprived do I look?" _Close enough._

"Only a little," Steve replied, a sympathetic look on his face.

"So well, the usual amount then."

The Captain slowly strode over, as if not to scare her away, not that she had anywhere to go, and took a seat in front. As if on cue, the others gathered together a little closer, with Pepper settling into the closest place on Alex's left, and Bruce next to Steve. Thor and Rocket didn't move but were almost definitely listening in.

Alex wasn't going to pretend that this didn't feel like the beginning of an interrogation, but she had already guessed that further questions were going to be inevitable.

"I know you might not want to just jump into this, so soon after everything," Steve began, voice careful and controlled, "But I think we need to ask a couple more questions based on what you had said yesterday."

Alex quickly nodded, eager to get some information out and to get some answers of her own. "I have some questions too."

"Yeah, that's expected." Bruce chipped in, "How about we ask each other questions by turn?"

"Y-Yeah. Okay."

"We made a small list," he continued, pulling out a small notebook from some pocket, "We'll just go through them slowly if you don't mind?"

Once again, a quick nod. Alex's heart sank a little as she caught a glimpse of the inside of said 'small list'. It was closer to a full A4 page, to be honest.

"Okay," Steve took over, "What's your full name?"

"Alexandra Josefina... uh, Jarvis."

Alex ignored how Pepper breathed in a little too harshly, but she didn't bother trying to reassure them. She was proud of her surname, even prouder once she started watching the Marvel movies. Even if J.A.R.V.I.S. wasn't around any more, and even Vision was... She just hoped this _encounter_ wouldn't change her pride.

"Josefina, that's, uh... so a Spanish origin?"

"Uh, yeah." Her grandparents picked that one out, seeing as Alexandra was spelt the English way. God, she missed them now. They live in the U.S. though, right? In this universe too? Maybe she can visit them or - 

"Okay then... Uh, your turn." 

Right, questions. Well, the first one to ask was rather obvious. "How did I get here?"

In the split second of silence, where the team looked back and forth between each other, Alex's heart jumped four beats in the time of two. There had to be a reason for her being here, someway she got here. She had to get home.

"We tried to open this portal," Bruce answered. "It was meant to just take us down to New York, but then... it didn't work, and suddenly you were there."

Of course, that left more questions than answers. "Portal?"

"Um, a machine that Tony and I worked on years ago."

"That's- That's not possible. What?"

"Hey, hey, AJ? Take a breath," Pepper's hand appeared on her shoulder, gently rubbing circles in a soothing gesture, "We'll take turns, okay? How about some other basic things, like where are you from and what's your age?"

AJ guessed her accent gave away that she had not, in fact, actually grown up in America. Begrudgingly, she quickly summarised her life story of being born in New York City but then moving down to Australia when she was 8, dodging the family drama that came with that move. And she's supposed to be 17 at the end of the year, although AJ decided not to get into the question of _which_ year that would be.

"Now your turn again." Pepper approved.

Steadying herself, Alex tried to work her mind around the question. "That's not supposed to have happened, because, well, that wasn't in the movies. No mention of that. At all."

"Look, miss," Rocket jumped on the table suddenly, "Dunno how to break it to you, but this is not a movie."

"Yeah, but to me, it's- " She tried.

"It's our goddam life, and we can make choices in it."

"Look, I know- " 

"So just cuz you think you saw something, in some movie, doesn't- "

"I _know_ that you_ fucking trash_ panda!"

The room went silent. Up until then, AJ seemed like a panicked yet quiet teenager. Now she was an angrily loud and panicked teenager.

"I _know_ this is your life. I _know_ that I'm here, in this universe, and things are already different. I'm just going off what's _supposed to be real._" She should have gone back to sleep. At this rate, Alex was more likely to cause more problems than to provide solutions.

"Trash panda?" Rocket spouted. "_Trash panda?_"

AJ took a breath. "Sorry, Rocket."

"Nuh-uh. 'Trash panda'? _Seriously?_"

_At least he wasn't attacking her. _"It's just what Peter called you once..."

"Parker?" Pepper, of all people, jumped into the conversation.

"N-no, uh, Quill. Star-Lord."

"No one calls him that." The raccoon muttered.

"Fans do." AJ countered.

In the silence, the mood of the room slowly settled down from defensive to just tense-awkward. If only to turn back time, Doctor Strange style, and just change the wording of things a little, maybe they could have stayed civil. AJ felt a spark of embarrassment at the fact that she just snapped in front of not only literal strangers but the Avengers. And she yelled at a raccoon to top it all off.

"Fans, you say." Steve began, hoping to restart a normal conversation again, "I guess there's no point in delaying this any further. Could you explain more about this 'Marvel' thing?" 

When Alex finally met the Captain's eyes, her own worry reflected back at her. But this was the biggest barrier between them, and Steve was right this time. No point dodging it for too long.

"That's a big question, but I'll do my best." The teen paused to gather up her thoughts, every bit of knowledge about Marvel running through her mind, and slowly taking on a structure. "If this were my world, then sometime in the 1940s a comic book company called 'Marvel Comics' was established. They created, well, comic book superheroes, and those heroes are, you know... you guys."

Steve nodded, encouraging her to keep going, and all other ears tuned in, clinging to every bit of information Alex spoke.

"Then, if I'm correct, the company was renamed to be 'Marvel Entertainment'. They went bankrupt at one point, selling a great majority of their characters to other companies, who mostly made TV shows and movies out of them. But eventually, Marvel decided to make their own movies with whatever heroes they had left."

"So then, um," Another brief pause, "Eventually, Disney bought the company, which helped in many ways and well, since the first few movies succeeded, the official Marvel Cinematic Universe began to grow, and eventually it reached... now. As in, what just happened would have been in a movie called 'Avengers: Infinity War'."

"So you mentioned," Thor out of all of them cut in, "What happened in it? When did it happen?"

Alex was tempted to ask Thor how he knew so much about what movies are but left it to the god learning that in his time on Earth.

"2018, April 26th." Like she would ever forget that date.

"And?"

"What?"

"And what happened in it?" The god urged.

Usually, AJ could ramble on about that movie, despite it being over two years since its release, but now her enthusiasm about the Marvel world was almost awkward. Weird, or _strange_ rather, pun intended. It was after all odd to have just recently rewatched some of the movies, not to mentioned they should be on her personal drive.

On her personal external drive. In her bag.

Which she definitely had with her in this universe.

"I can show you."

* * *

**MORNING - 3rd OF JUNE, 2018 - AVENGER'S COMPOUND, EARTH**

Steve didn't know what to make of Alexandra saying she can 'show them'. He just sat back and watched as the teen twisted around, scanned the room, and promptly jumped up to then rush over to the couches. Alex leaned down and picked up... her shoulder bag. The black leather bag that blended near perfectly with the black of the sofa, and it had just sat there, all night. They could have checked it, breaking all ethics around privacy of course, but they could have checked for something like this.

When Alex returned to the table, she hesitantly placed the bag in front of her, hands shaking ever so slightly as she opened it. Out came a laptop, along with some loose papers, and an external drive. The words 'Movies and Sh*t' were written on it in permanent marker. Steve's mouth turned into a tight smile at the simplicity of teenager-hood.

As the others moved in closer, so did Steve, only to stop halfway around the table. There was proof, right there, in front of him. Obviously, Alex was going to show them some sort of proof. Evidence of everything she claimed to be true. Aliens, gods, talking trees and raccoons, Steve's seen enough in his days that this shouldn't be all that surprising, yet it scared him.

Alex had already entered her password, a messy desktop showing itself instead, screenshots and documents scattered about with what appeared to be a school timetable as the background. The teen didn't seem to mind the mess, navigating around, quickly connecting the drive to the laptop and opening some app.

Into the drive titled 'That stuff', into a folder titled 'Movies - Films' and then the mouse hovered over the folder 'Marvel'. Alex didn't press it for a moment, visibly preparing herself, Steve himself taking a deep breath, and the team around holding onto their hopes.

More folders and video files loaded, but this time it was different.

Going in alphabetical order, 'Ant-Man', 'Avengers', 'Captain America' and more and more recognisable names showed on the screen.

"You- You have the movies?" Pepper's voice was barely a whisper, but everyone heard it in the silence.

Alex cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. W-which would you like to see?"

"Just, what you said before, the 'Infinity' one." Steve took the initiative for the team, seeing as the others were quite speechless at this new development.

"Infinity War, yeah, sure." Alex almost reluctantly opened the 'Avengers' folder, where more four movies resided, 'Age of Ultron, 'Endgame', 'Infinity War' and 'The Avengers'. Steve roughly guessed what events were shown in each.

With another double click, the movie was opened, loading for a moment before the playback bar jumped somewhere to the end, likely to when Alex had previously closed the file. The team leaned in closer, crowding over the small laptop.

A small green girl on an orange background showed. Alex took a sudden deep breath, likely knowing full well what was happening.

"This, um, this is right before..." She whispered, "Right before everyone dies. I don't know if you want to see that again or-"

"Play it." Steve ordered, knowing damn well he and the others will be hurt, but this was the proof that they wanted. Hitting space, Alex leaned back and let the video play.

_What did it cost?_

_Everything._ Thanos. Goddam Thanos was on the screen. The maniac had to audacity to sound sad, as if he felt remorse for what he had done. But too soon it cutaway to-

_What did you do? What'd you do!? _Deja vu was probably not the correct term for what the team was feeling, but what other words could describe their current situation.

_Where'd he go? Thor? Where did he go? _And just a few seconds afterwards-

_Steve? _Like a phonogram, the real memory replayed itself in Steve's mind. It matched gesture for gesture, dust particle to dust particle, the gun clattering on the ground in the same way, with the same dreadful sound. But Steve could see himself, his own face on-screen, looking around in confusion, vulnerable emotions on display for an entire audience.

The shot suddenly cut to the Wakandan army disintegrating, a Wakandan leader, the name of who Steve couldn't remember, looking over the battlefield, shocked and confused. A sight they didn't see in the forest, so many people gone at once, dust blowing away in the wind, people losing their grip on each other as half of them vanished.

_Up General! Up! This is no place to die. _The irony of those words cut deeper than General Okoye's shocked expression.

_I am Groot_. _No. No, no, no, no! _The Captain saw Rocket turn away, nose twitching.

Steve didn't see Wanda die, and now he did. He now knew how she went. And he now knew that he didn't want to know that she mourned over Vision's body till the last moment, head-turning up as if a silent prayer, or a wish, to perhaps be reunited with her loved ones.

_Sam? _They all confirmed with each other that nobody saw Sam go, but now they could see him. Pushing himself up onto his elbows in the shrubbery, Rhodey not noticing him despite being so close. _Sam! Where you at?_

But with one last shot of Okoye, the scenery then changed completely. Everything was happening too quickly. There was no time to understand where things took place now, the jungle green replaced by a desert orange, and all of a sudden, Tony was on screen. And he looked like crap, cuts and blood littering his face.

An audible gasp came from Pepper, she muttered his name, along with the phrases 'oh god' and 'no please not him'. Steve couldn't bear to look over, but Pepper was probably on the verge of tears again.

Some people were shown regrouping, and now it was Rocket's turn to take a deep breath. Perhaps the teammates the raccoon mentioned before. Separated from each other amidst all the chaos, they had no way to know what happened to the others. Well, now Rocket would know.

_Something's happening._ Then the strange woman was gone, the others standing around looking scared.

_Qui- Quill? _And another one gone.

_Stay Quill. _Tony knew them. _Oh, man. _And another gone. They must have fought alongside each other. A light thud distracted Steve to see Rocket jumping off the table and rushing away. Steve bitterly remembered Rocket mentioning his other teammates... and all of them were gone.

_Tony... There was no other way. _The unknown man sounded so painfully apologetic before he too was blown away into nothing.

_Mr Stark? _The Tony on-screen turned around to face the shaky voice, and the camera cut to show another person.

_I don't feel so good. _The boy, for it cruelly seemed like just a boy, looked up, confusion, worry, and above all else fear drawn on his face. How did a teenager get to wherever the hell Tony was?

_You're alright. _No. He wasn't.

_I dunno- I dunno what's happening. I dunno- Hey, Hey! _This was a child for fuck's sake, a child who turned to Tony for help, for Tony to save him. _I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go. Mr Stark, please, please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go. _The kid begged, clinging to Tony, flakes already falling off the boy's arms, while Tony held him back and gently lowered him down until they both fell.

_I'm sorry. _Whatever the kid was sorry for, Steve couldn't begin to guess. The boy seemed to die slower, looking at Tony, a look of guilt on his face until he was too far gone to keep his head up, rolling off to the side and disappearing.

Tony's hand fell right through where the boy once was, turning around and staring at it. He dusted it off, so lost and unsure in his movements. A blue woman stood behind him, but the duo didn't seem to be dying. Tony was alive. _He did it._

For a while, the screen stayed there, before jumping back down to Earth again. In Wakanda, the screen showed the team gathering up again. _What is this? What the hell is happening? _It was proof. 

"Oh, god," Steve muttered, along with his on-screen counterpart.

They sat there for a while, the movie paused on some blue sky background, but no one quite cared. Steve and the others had re-lived their grief, Rocket was hurt, and Alex sat with her head down, probably feeling awkward and unsure of what to do. Yeah, what Alex said was true. When Natasha comes back, it’ll just be the nail in the coffin. It’s all true.

"I guess that settles it," Bruce spoke, closing the list of questions, "You're telling the truth."

Alex gave an affirmative sound.

"Just like that?" Rocket mumbled, ever so quietly.

"Just like that." Steve confirmed, "So, uh, what now?"

The teenager looked up, clearly not expecting the question. "What?"

"What happens after? You said you knew." Steve pressed.

"Well," She faintly smiled to herself, "You don't get your hands on Spider-Man only to kill him off in the third movie."

The joke was lost on the team, Pepper even winced slightly, but it did seem to connotate something hopeful.

"And...?" Bruce encouraged.

"There's a way to bring them all back, yeah." Despite all odds, Alex gave a real smile. Almost a smirk, maybe a bit smug from all the knowledge she must know.

"But," She cut them off before anyone could begin celebrating, "It needs Tony. And Scott actually for that matter. And more teammates. And Carol, oh definitely Carol."

"Well, where's Tony? Where was that?" Pepper inquired.

"Um," Here Alex hesitated. "After he, Peter and Strange, took off on that space-doughnut-ship, they crash-landed on a planet called Titan. It's kind of where Thanos was born."

Pepper couldn't speak for a moment. "H-how far away is that?"

"It's- Well, it's not even about how far away it is. There's no way for any of you to get there."

"I can." Thor hadn't moved since the movie stopped playing, but his voice was full of determination. "Stormbreaker can summon the Bifrost. I assume you know what that means."

"Yeah, but Titan is..."

"I know where it is. I've heard of it before."

"Yeah, but no. It's not that. Tony and Nebula leave Titan pretty soon after the snap. They're probably long gone by now."

"I will still try it." The God of Thunder rose, storming off towards a courtyard exit, no one with the courage to tell him otherwise. Alex jumped when Stormbreaker whooshed past, and the god then leapt into the air and away from the Compound. A few moments later, a roar was heard, and a streak of light erupted into the sky.

"That settles that then," Bruce mumbled, turning back to the rest.

Everyone looked around a little awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed. What questions would they ask now? What answers do they want? Well, Alexandra Jarvis knew that's for sure.

"Not to like, dismiss the whole 'end of the world' thing going on here, but... will I be able to, like, go home? You know, eventually?"

The hesitation in Bruce's answer spoke volumes. "We'll try. I promise you that. We'll try our hardest to get you back to your world."

Alex gently nodded, not believing him so quickly.

"But hey, in the meantime, um, enjoy this world?"

The teenager looked up then, and suddenly amidst the panic and anxiety, the shock of being in the wrong universe and the wrong year, she realised something quite straightforward. She just met the Avengers. 

Alex met the people, the heroes, that she's looked up to since she was nine and her sister dragged her to the earliest screening of the Avengers in the entire city. And not just the actors, no, she met the people that the internet gushed over and joked about and shipped with each other and... more internet things.

Yeah, meeting your heroes seemed to turn out fine so far.

* * *

**MIDDAY - <strike>31st OF MAY</strike>, 2018 - QUANTUM REALM, SAN FRANCISCO**

When the communications fell, and a white noise rang in his ear, Scott instantly had a bad feeling.

"Hello?" No one answered.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." He was just joking when he didn't respond to the comms check. Was this payback?

"Hank quit screwing around. You told me yourself not to screw around." Well, Scott still did, just a little. But Scott was the one in danger if something went wrong, he could joke about it because he knew he was fine.

"Hank!" They wouldn't leave him this long. "Hope? Janet!" The twist in his stomach increased. "Guys. Guys!" What was wrong? "Okay seriously don't joke around, bring me-"

The radio crackled, and the voice that came through left Scott speechless. "Scott? Are you there?"

Captain. Goddam. America. The guy was on the run. In Europe. Captain America was on the run somewhere in Europe, not anywhere near America. How on Earth did the man get back onto U.S. soil?

"Scott?" Rogers asked again, a little more panicked this time.

"Y-yes, I'm here. What. How are you... I mean... why?" An odd question to ask but Scott was thrown curve balls here, and he was doing his best.

"We're getting you out, okay? Coming up in three..."

"W-wait, what about-"

"Two..."

"Hank, and-"

"One!"

The strangely familiar swoosh of the quantum realm flying around from him took over, and Scott was sent hurling back into the real world. The sky above opened up, and he stumbled upon landing, his legs strangely unused to solid ground.

"Oh, man..." Stabilising himself on the ground, Scott finally looked around, still trying to get his thoughts together. Captain America, an actual raccoon, and Bruce Banner, the scientist who was missing for about three years, stood by the control panel instead of Hope, Janet and Hank. But, he reasoned, gravity was still working and the sun still shining. Not everything was insane.

"What the hell is going on here? Cap? Is that really you?" He kept looking around, catching sight of two others nearby, _the_ Virginia Potts and a young girl whom he didn't remember seeing.

"Good to see you're alive Scott," Rogers breathed a sigh of relief, "A lot's happened in the last few days. We'll catch you up, but for now, can you help us attach that brown van to the Quinjet?"

Frankly, when Captain America asks you to do something, it's hard to say no. But it was also what got Scott in trouble with the government in the first place. Asking ahead of time would save a lot of trouble.

"Y-yeah, okay. Sure." Apparently, he didn't learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This WILL be finished eventually!
> 
> I've got the whole thing pretty much planned out already, roughly 10 chapters or so.


	4. Set in motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, Nebula and Clint get rescued by their friends.
> 
> And then everyone learns a whole lot more about what they need to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // IMPORTANT //  
I started writing this back in November/December of 2019. We all know how bat sh*t crazy 2020 has been, and I thought I'd reveal 'when' Alex came from by the time I would get around to writing that part.  
But no. It's been too much, and I have now concluded that Alex would have left our world around March 2020. No later. So a lot of the things we know, Alex won't, and I'll try to write in a way that wouldn't make that too obvious, but that's that.

**EARLY MORNING – 3rd OF JUNE 2018 – BARTON’S HOMESTEAD**

A layer of dust had settled onto everything in the house. Untouched, discarded, things were left where they were dropped that morning. Each room Clint walked into was as silent as the previous. Even the usual summer chirps and whistles from the forest were near silent. They just wanted to spend the day together, all the Bartons out playing catch and eating hotdogs, as a family, but only one Barton returned home that day.

Clint was completely and utterly alone.

It doesn’t matter that he spent the rest of that cursed day running around their property, searching and screaming his voice out for Laura, or that he ransacked the house, in the vain hope to find Cooper in one of the many hiding places, a sudden round of hide-and-seek just like when he was little. Or that he stood for far too long in Lila’s room, every item in the exact place as it was many hours ago until he memorised the layout. And all his attempts to draw out Nathaniel with promises of chocolate and meeting Captain America soon turned to mindless wandering. Because it didn’t matter and nothing he did could change the fact that they all disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Clint hardly slept that night, opting to wander in circles until his legs gave out sometime in the afternoon of the following day. Scrambling off the living room couch, Clint finally turned the TV on but was hardly surprised to see the state-wide Emergency Alert System playing on loop. _This is not a test. Please stand by for further instructions._ The internet told him he wasn’t alone in his grief and confusion, but most news outlets and blogs soon spiralled into conspiracy theories, and incoherent keyboard smashes. Clint managed to ignore the EAS’s ringing for three hours before he began to lose his mind, and by nightfall of that second day, the ex-Avenger knew his options. Stay here and go insane, or leave and get answers, before he would drown in his misery.

It was dark, that was as close to knowing the time as Clint got. Between unpacking his Avenger gear, packing up the house, and hacking off his ankle monitor without electrocuting himself, there was no time to waste staring at a clock. White sheets went over furniture, family photos into a duffel bag, bow, arrow, knives and darts onto his person, already suited up, just in case. It was a systematic task, made all the more fun with a few drinks. For every room, there was a bottle, for every noise he thought might be a voice a shot of something stronger. Slow going, and tedious, up until Clint knew he heard a real sound. And a real light shone outside, illuminating the barn.

A gentle hum, hovering overhead and quietening down right outside his house. Too quiet for a Quinjet, he should know, he’d flown one of those many times. But still, another person, another life, and maybe some goddam _answers_. So, with a bottle of something sweeter, and a surprisingly decent sense of direction, Clint stumbled out the front door.

From the aircraft that was far too futuristic looking, came running a dear old friend. And perhaps the spit-second look of pity she sent him was deserved, but that was quickly buried by sympathy, worry, and compassion. When they stood close enough to see each other in the dark, Clint thought he might even be seeing some teary eyes instead of the usual neutral mask.

“’ Asha?” Clint slurred out, frowning at how the name turned out so wrong in his mouth. Under normal circumstances, he would have probably commented on the new hair.

Of course, before any ‘blonde Russian’ jokes could be made, Natasha pulled him into a hug. Because it wasn’t normal circumstances. Excessive drinking on his part and a gentle consoling pat on the back while hugging from Nat? Must be a funeral.

“What’re you doing here?” _No, that’s not it._ Why was she on some jet straight out of Blade Runner?

“Checking up on a friend.” She replied, voice ever so quiet and gentle, “A lot happened in the last few days.”

Understatement. “Y-yeah, I heard bits ‘n’ pieces.”

“Clint, is Laura and –”

“I dunno what –” _Don’t say gone, don’t tell me that,_ “I don’t… I just turned around, and they were…” _Gone, _“…All of them.”

Natasha responded by hugging him tighter. She’d seen him cry before, of course, they were really close friends, but damn if drunk crying wasn’t the lowest of the low.

“I’m so sorry. We– We should’ve called you sooner.”

The rough shapes of plaguing questions formed in his mind, but his tongue felt too heavy, throat closed up, and body struggling to even stand upright. “The others?”

“Steve told me to come get you to the Compound. Everyone else should be there now.”

“Ev’ryone?”

“Everyone who’s left.”

Clint shifted to bury his head in Natasha’s shoulder, vaguely aware of the dirtied armour she wore. If something blue and akin to blood could stain her gear, surely a few tears wouldn’t do much more damage. He did feel bad for leaning his weight on her. It must be a pain to hold him up, such an inconvenience, dragging her down like this. He was wasting time too, weeping into her shoulder, when Natasha had clearly been through enough shit just recently too.

“’ Was packing a bag.” In his fuzzy mind, Clint came to the conclusion that he may as well help her get him to the Compound, “Planned on leaving soon anyway. ’ll get it.”

Natasha followed him into the house without question, hovering right behind and helping him not walk into a doorframe several times. Maybe drinking right before leaving was a bad idea. If Natasha wasn’t there to guide him onto what he finally recognised as a Wakandan aircraft, and if she didn’t force him to eat something and drink water, Clint would have probably crashed the car he was planning to drive. A swift end to his adventure.

Then the ramp closed, Natasha punched in the needed coordinates, and they smoothly accelerated away, leaving Clint’s home behind, nothing but a place of both happy and troubled memories. Autopilot engaged, and the spy duo settled down on the floor, somewhat calmed by each other’s presence, basking in the silence between them, simply glad to be alive together. A sandwich and half a bottle of water later, Clint finally managed to formulate a relevant question.

“What happ’nd… why did everyone…” He broke the sentences off with a sigh, not able to say the words out loud.

Natasha answered, straight to the point. “An intergalactic threat.”

“Oh, great.” Everyone really needed one of those around this time of the year.

“His name is Thanos.” Natasha continued, but her body shook at the name, “We fought him. We lost. Half of all life in the universe paid the price.” Her voice drifted off near the end, barely a whisper.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or his own grievances overshadowing any logic, but Clint could barely comprehend what half the universe dying meant. The sheer scale of such a decimation, even sober, Clint would probably not understand what that truly meant for the world. The universe, the entire infinite universe, and half of it was just gone, turned to a pile of dust.

“Who– who else is? Y’know?”

“Don’t do this to yourself right now.”

“Nat, please. I can’t walk around guessing. Whether they’re... gone, or I just haven’t found them yet.”

It took a moment, but Natasha complied. “King T’Challa, Vision, Wanda, Sam, and James Barnes from who you’d know.”

Clint asked again about who he wouldn’t know.

“Princess Shuri of Wakanda, and some new extra-terrestrial friends.”

Clint pushed again, needing more information.

“Stark’s gone missing. Last we heard was that he disappeared on an alien spaceship that came down over New York. Witnesses claim others were fighting with him, like Queen’s very own Spider-Man, and someone flying around in a red cape.”

“Thor?”

“No, someone new.”

“And Fury?” The silence spoke volumes.

“I found his car. Maria’s bag was in the back too. And I found this on the ground outside,” Reaching into her pocket Natasha pulled out a small device, holding it for Clint to inspect. Not trusting his drunken state to hold it Clint didn’t bother trying to fidget with it.

“Looks ancient.”

“Whatever signal it’s sending, it seems important. Fury knew who was on the other end. He must’ve used it when he… realised what was happening.”

Clint stayed silent at that. Natasha didn’t continue either, although she also looked to be in dire need of a nap. Or maybe they could both do with some sleep.

After a few minutes of silence, Natasha spoke, “I’m gonna call Steve, okay? Let him know you’re safe.”

Clint shrugged. Why would he object at that? He had his brain to sober up, and overall pathetic-ness to manage before landing. But sure, it’s essential to let the Captain know he’s alive. Meanwhile, Natasha sat up straighter for the call, while also keeping an eye on their coordinates and estimated arrival time.

Steve picked up on the first ring. “Nat?”

“Yeah. I found Clint.”

“Oh,” He sounded distracted, or like he forgot about something. Or straight-up forgot that he asked Nat to go somewhere without any explanation. “You guys on route to the Compound now?”

“Yes. Listen, Steve, Clint’s family they… weren’t there.” Natasha spoke as vaguely as possible, aware of Clint listening to her every word.

What Steve replied with set off a couple alarms. “I– I knew.” 

And those words quickly lit a spark in her guts, the beginning embers of anger. Not a pretty emotion. “What?”

“Or– or I guessed that I knew. When I told you to go there, I wasn’t sure. But now I am.” At least he sounded apologetic, “I should have told you. I promise I’ll explain when we all regroup again.”

“You better.” And with that, Natasha hang up. _How could he have known?_ And why didn’t he tell her? Why leave her to stress all the way to the Barton’s home, to worry about whether she’d find a distraught family or an empty house. God, would little Nathaniel even manage to feed himself for those two days alone?

The crunch of plastic brought her attention back to Clint, the remainder of the bottle now used as both a stress ball and something to toss around for the archer’s entertainment. Even if he fumbled the second throw, and third, didn’t catch it right on the fourth, and then finally threw it to the far side of the jet in frustration, choosing to pull at his hair again instead.

“Hey.” Natasha swung an arm around her friend, the latter curled up, “We’re gonna fix this.”

“Don’t…” Clint mumbled.

“Don’t what?”

“… don’t give me hope.”

Natasha didn’t blink back the stinging in her eyes this time. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you sooner.”

* * *

**SUN IS SHINING – <strike>3 Earth days after Thanos</strike>, 2018 – TITAN**

Some hour or two ago, the rainbow shine of the Bifrost had faded away to reveal a dusty and barren wasteland. Titan. An entire planet now abandoned, it’s people long gone, but the surface still littered with crumbled structures. In a world where nothing living should be, Thor searched for their two missing teammates. 

_They’re probably long gone by now._ Thank the stars they weren’t. Just by a few seconds.

In a few minutes of searching, Thor suddenly caught glimpse of the shine of metal in the distance, a small orange and blue shape taking up to the skies, and he felt both instant relief and terror. Swinging Stormbreaker around for good measure, the god accelerated at the ship as fast as he could manage, barely slowing even as he neared the ship, and inevitably smashing into the front screen yet again. He screamed for them to stop, turn around, that it was fine, he was there, he could help them get home another way, much safer, he could do something right.

Stark first yelled out in shock, a gauntlet forming on his hand on instinct rather than command, but he then yelled out again in joy when he realised who they had collided with. The blue woman, Nebula as Alexandra mentioned, barely flinched but brought the ship back down at Stark’s begging.

For two years Thor did not hear from Tony Stark. And for the last two days, he didn’t know if Tony was even alive or not. For an hour or two, Thor desperate searched a dead planet for him, and now he could see his friend. Swiftly touching down by the now parked ship, Thor rushed forward the moment the ship’s ramp lowered, seeking out his old teammate and a new ally.

“Stark?” On the other end of the spaceship, Nebula appeared from the top of a ladder, gesturing to come in further. And when Thor climbed up to the second level and turned around, he finally saw Stark. He saw that Stark was much more injured than what Alexandra had shown them.

“Hey, Point Break.”

Thor leaned down to give the man a gentle hug. “It’s good to see you, Tony.” _Tony._ Even back when they fought Ultron, did Thor ever really think of him as Tony? “So much has happened since we last spoke.”

“Yeah…” Tony shuddered, whether from some dark humoured chuckle or tears, Thor couldn’t tell, “Where, uh, where did you just come from?”

“Earth. I’m here to get you two back.” Thor looked between the two survivors, the only ones in a team of seven that didn’t crumble to dust. Half the universe and yet most of them ended up pulling the short straw.

That was some hour or two ago, and in a few short minutes, they were to leave.

For the first perhaps twenty minutes, they let themselves simply sit and talk; Tony explained his injury, his final one on one stance against Thanos, and how ‘the idiot wizard’ gave away the stone for his life, but was also immensely relieved to hear that Pepper had survived. Nebula recounted what happened to everyone else, even if the only new information for Thor was the death of her adoptive sister, Gamora. Thor, in turn, confided in them about Loki’s death as well. Even Tony looked sympathetic, but Thor couldn’t have blamed him for being slightly relieved, for none of them knew the new Loki.

Thor also commented on how he was pretty certain Titan had three moons, to his shock finding out Thanos threw one at Tony, and how the man pretty much asked the titan not to do that again. The moon broke, Tony didn’t. Despite the events happening so recently, that drew out a small laugh from everyone.

However, peaceful moments must come to an end all too soon.

“You need to rest.” Nebula spoke as monotone as her on-screen counterpart.

Tony, to whom the statement was addressed, shook his head, “I’ll be fine.”

“You have hardly slept in the last 3 days.” Nebula insisted again, even as she was busy packing away everything on the ship.

“And you are injured.” Thor added on from his corner, where he instead was packing things to take with them back to Earth. Some valuables, personal items, a couple Earth items somehow.

“Well, based on the sun’s movement, it’s actually only been one day.” Tony snarked back.

“One Titan day.”

“Whatever.” He wasn’t going to just sit back and not help. Even if he could barely manage writing a letter. Four letters actually, and in different languages. Alien languages at that, based on some translating gadget Nebula dug out for him. ‘Just writing a letter’ his ass, it was important. ‘Please do not take this ship, we did not all die, we may still need it. Sincerely, the Guardians of the Galaxy’. Apparently, that name was pretty well-known.

The Benatar won’t fit through the tunnel of the Bifrost. There was nothing they could do but leave it. The planet was abandoned anyway, all they had to do was leave it somewhere where no loose boulders could crush it. And so, the lights went out and the ramp closed, and in a secluded gap between two cliff faces, they left the ship.

Between Thor and Nebula, they managed to half-carry, half-support a limping Tony out into the open. Either way, the jump was probably going to jolt the injury pretty badly, but no one wanted to wait around days, least of all Tony.

“So, this is it, huh?” The man in question grumbled.

“Ready?” Nebula asked, again.

“Yup, just peachy.” He sighed, looking off to a particular spot in the distance, “Just… feels wrong. There’s nothing to even bring back. We’re just… leaving him here.”

The others didn’t respond. Tony never mentioned the boy to Thor verbally, but Alexandra’s video played was enough for him to figure out who ‘him’ was. _I don’t wanna go. Mr Stark, please, please, I don’t wanna go._ They must have been close.

Thor gave a tight squeeze in sympathy, wishing he could tell them everything, that it was going to be better. But it was not his secret to tell.

With bags and boxes strapped on, one injured Tony in arms, they looked around one more time, a silent goodbye to this desolated world. Thor raised Stormbreaker to the skies, a cracking thunder boiling in the atmosphere before bright light engulfed them. Rainbow streaks clouded their vision, feet took off from solid ground, and just like that, they were gone.

* * *

**AFTERNOON – 3rd of… JUNE? <strike>2020</strike> 2018 – AVENGER’S COMPOUND, MCU**

_Let’s do a recap shall we? You are in another universe with talking trees and racoons, web-slinging but currently dusted teenagers, soldiers from World War II still looking hella fine, both murderous and friendly aliens and oh, of course, some magical Christmas decorations that put together snapped half the universe out of existence._

That wasn’t including the fact that Alex knows what’s supposed to happen but had already messed with the timeline and kick-started things that aren’t supposed to happen for five more years.

_God, I wish I was just in a coma. Or high and hallucinating. Even if I said I would never – _

The stinging pain reached its crescendo and she let go, leaving sharp red indents carved into her skin, just a moment from drawing blood. The pinch left a faint throbbing sensation, and her throat closed up with the threat of tears, but she felt it, and she was still there. People always pinched themselves to wake up from dreams. Stereotypical and doesn’t work. Guess you can’t wake up from another universe.

Flying to San Francisco and back took most of the day, even if the Quinjet managed to get them there and back in roughly half the time. So, five hours, not twelve. About two hours that way of AJ silently sitting on her phone in the corner, catching up on the MCU’s 2018 news and scavenging for any Marvel memes she may have saved; quietly chuckling at some, and now frowning at others. And of course, the occasional random questions from the Avengers as they kept going through their ‘little’ list. She happily responded to questions about her family and friends, a little more awkwardly about how she once watched the animated Marvel TV shows as a kid. Then rather vaguely about how after seeing the first Avengers in theatres, she then excitedly waited for the next Marvel movie every year.

She was telling them… about them. _‘There are about 23 movies now’_, and _‘It’s a movie franchise bigger than Star Wars’_, and of course, thank you Rocket, _‘No I’m not telling you my favourite’_. Some more practical questions included a quick summary of what Scott had been up to, or who and what Carol was, which frankly felt a lot like talking about someone behind their back: very rude.

Then they rescued Scott. Seeing the quantum portal operate and spit out Paul Rudd was not something AJ ever thought she would want to see in her life, and yet there she was. 

For all his humour, jokes and overall light-hearted character, Scott did surprisingly well in handling summary of Thanos and the snap, although they decided to leave out any multiverse shenanigans till a little later. For finding out half of all life in existence had just died, including one’s girlfriend, but not their daughter, and that they’ve been stuck in the quantum realm for three days, not a few seconds, was quite enough for one person.

However, Scott didn’t quite care about the rest of the universe, probably didn’t even fully listen to the rest, and got stuck at ‘but not your daughter.’ Cassie lived, and Scott begged to see her.

It was a very teary-eyed one-hour detour. If Alex got emotional at seeing an older Cassie reunite with her father after five years, then she definitely teared up at seeing the little eight-year-old girl throw herself into the arms of her father whom she thought missing for three days. Cassie didn’t even blink at the presence of the Avengers, either not caring, but more likely overwhelmed with joy at seeing her dad again.

Turns out Cassie was at school when it happened, and half her class just vanished right in front of her eyes. Whatever staff remained brought the surviving kids together and looked after them until their parents came to pick them up. Some parents didn’t show at all, no calls, no contact, nothing. And Cassie’s mum, Scott’s ex-wife, Maggie, was one of those people. The police guy who she had re-married though, Jim Paxton, was the one to collect Cassie, and the one keeping her safe the last three days. Scott probably said the words ‘thank you’ at least twenty times in the span of just a few minutes.

When the time came, Cassie didn’t want her dad to go, and Scott didn’t want to leave her either. AJ didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news but managed to whisper to Steve that the Compound was not the safest of places for an eight-year-old. When the Captain, confused, asked why not, she didn’t dodge the question and flat out told him, “If things happen the same way at last time, it’s going to be blown up.”

And so, with a lot of convincing, reassurance and tears, Scott reluctantly left with the Avengers, promising to call every morning and every night and to come back to them once they figure out a way to bring mommy back.

Then it was another two hours of regurgitating the exact same ‘Hi, I’m from another universe’ information to Scott.

Somehow, despite having to absorb half the universe dying, and then have the multiverse bomb dropped on him, with the addition of ‘Hey you’re a fictional character to me, and everything you’ve gone through is just for people’s entertainment in my universe’, Scott did not implode. Or explode. Didn’t even scream into a wall. AJ was a little surprised, but then again, the most important part of Scott’s life, his daughter was safe. And Hope, AJ quickly promised him they could bring back in short time.

Unlike the Avengers and Rocket, with their critical questioning and suspicious moments, Scott turned out to be rather enthusiastic about this revelation. In fact, by the last hour of their flight, he began asking the really important questions.

_“Okay, but who’s your favourite? You know, like, person? Or character, I guess.”_

_“Oh, c’mon, man, don’t make this weird.”_

_“It’s not weird! It’s like having a favourite from Star Wars. Mine’s Chewie. There, your turn.”_

_“R2D2. And yeah, it’s weird.”_

_He sat thinking for a moment before trying another approach, “Okay then, which one of our movies is your favourite?”_

_“Lang!”_

Thank whatever powers exist in this universe for Pepper Potts. Despite the overly motherly care and perhaps slight pity, it was nice that the woman stuck with AJ at all times, helped her balance the insanity of everything while negotiating between the two parties so that at least some information could be passed around. She really did have an almost magical calming aura about her. _Perfect for ‘Tony – piping hot mess – Stark’._

Speaking of the woman, standing by her side at the present, Pepper suddenly asked her if she wanted to head inside while the others finished up.

‘The others’ had suddenly expanded to Steve, Bruce, Rocket, and Rhodey, who arrived at almost the same time as them. The four of them now all stood around and argued on how to best untangle Scott’s van from the wires attaching it to the Quinjet. AJ was definitely of no help in that department, and Pepper stood back to keep her company, while Scott sat moping near them due to how much damage was done to the van during its transit. Turns out travelling at such speeds was not good for the relatively cheap San Francisco metal, causing some paint to flake, other bits to curve, and for something, to apparently straight up tear off. _At least it’s not blown up by Thanos’ boomerang sword._

A gentle touch to her shoulder shook the teen out of that memory, and she quickly agreed, the evening wind finally getting to her. Pepper gave her another sympathetic smile, and with a yell for Scott to also join them, they all turned towards the Compound. AJ shrugged at the suggestion of food, but, and although with slight hesitation, nodded at Scott’s idea of hot chocolate with marshmallows. For our ‘interdimensional friend’ as he put it. If the Compound even had that. Still, small comforts in this time of chaos.

But they took only maybe ten steps or less, before an oddly familiar eruption of light, and a rather threatening rumble in the ground stopped them in their tracks

Conversations were silenced, heads instantly whipping around to the thunder-like sound. Cables and ropes were dropped or left hanging; all progress interrupted, lucky that the van was already firmly on the ground rather than hanging somewhere in-between. Later to be denied were several yelps, as people jumped into the air in fright. AJ was definitely guilty to be one of those people, but then again so was Scott and he’s a superhero, so how was she supposed to compare?

And in the distance, from the tall never-ending ray of light, walked out three figures. 

Even when the Bifrost closed behind the newcomers, nobody moved for a few seconds. And then everyone jolted to life all at once.

Steve took off instantly, sprinting at a speed bordering on inhuman, enhancements allowing him to cross the distance in just a few seconds. In the next seconds, Pepper and Rhodey will start jogging too, limited to run as fast as leg braces and business shoes could allow, while Bruce, Rocket and Scott followed a little slower, but nonetheless traversing the plane at a moderate jog.

Because Tony was there. Of course, everyone wanted to get closer.

At that thought, Alex herself went from a jog to a run, overtaking the back row and quickly catching up to Pepper and Rhodey, eager to get a glimpse of Earth’s best defender. And the blue badass that is Nebula, of course, who unlike Thor is an actual alien looking alien.

Just ahead of her, Steve reached the new arrivals, and swiftly took up Thor’s spot in carrying Tony. Tony Stark, who for all his antics, was not immortal, and in her instant shot of relief at seeing him back on Earth, AJ seemed to have momentarily forgotten his severe injury. Having walked up closer, that fact was suddenly thrown back into her face. 

The man was barely standing on his own. Awfully pale, his clothes caked with dried blood and scratches and bruises littering his body, bags under his eyes, and exhaustion evident in every movement he made. Tony was the limping definition of ‘half-dead’. And a sweet metallic odour suddenly hit her nose, followed by a putrid wave of something sour, something rotten, and AJ didn’t want to come closer any more.

_Infection’s run its course, thanks to the blue meanie back there._ Tony was injured, really badly. Stabbed, no, full-on _impaled_, just a few days ago. He didn’t have twenty days in space to recover, and now he has to make up for that down here on Earth.

But dear lord, the great Iron Man was still standing, clutching Nebula and Steve, but standing. The teenager could have continued to stand there in awe, but then to AJ’s shock, Tony turned and spoke to Steve in the exact way she’d seen on screen a dozen times by now.

“Couldn’t stop him.”

“Neither could I.” Steve answered, in that exact same pained way. 

They made it perhaps three steps, before Tony’s breathing hitched, and he said his next line, “I-I... I lost the kid.”

“Tony, we –”

But Steve didn’t get to say ‘lost’, as Pepper made the last few steps, and despite the knowledge that Tony was alive, she still instantly hugged him, painfully aware of every scape and cut on her fiancé’s body. Steve stepped back, letting Tony’s friends help him the rest of the way, disappointment clear on his face. And then he turned to AJ, upset, and maybe just a little bit ticked off, for what she could not begin to guess.

“You didn’t mention he was injured.”

Oh, that would do it. “Sorry... He’ll be fine, though, right? I mean he made it like a month in space last time, and this is the Avenger’s Compound and all so…” She finished with a shrug, not sure how to finish that train of thought.

“But uh, he might be a little ticked off at you.” Alex added on in a haste, unfortunately remembering one of her favourite scenes in Endgame.

Steve simply shook his head, though, “I’ll deal with that after he’s taken care of.”

“I mean, he might fully snap at you,” _Ugh, poor choice of words, ‘snap’, really?_ “He’s still hurting over, um, like the Accords stuff and Siberia and you know… that.”

At that Steve gave a nod, but didn’t answer, sending her a sad glance before gesturing towards the Compound building, and started to follow the others. The company surrounding Tony, including but not limited to a very worried Bruce and quiet yet supporting Nebula, were nearing the entrance. Rocket and Scott returned to the van, and Thor following them at Rocket’s call, something about needing ‘someone stronger than these twerps.’ And suddenly, AJ stood on the grounds of legends properly alone, for the first time in many hours.

The sky was beginning to change hue, the green forest around too quiet for mother-nature, and even the wind still had stilled. From here on, things were about to pick up the pace, and AJ had to make some choices in order to speed things up safely. If Tony and Natasha still died, then she failed, didn’t she? But if anyone new died, then she knew that it would be on her.

_I don’t need that on my conscience._

* * *

‘Marvel Comics’ was established way back in 1939. A comic book company that wrote, and apparently still writes, about them; the Avengers and the Guardians and anyone important or close to them. Marvel Entertainment, then bought by Disney, made a series of interconnected movies, telling one long story of this cinematic universe, or the universe that they are currently in. Then ‘Avengers: Endgame’ became the highest-grossing film of all time, directly following the storyline of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ in which half the universe was turned to dust.

The reality in which Steve and the others were just a day ago. 

Now a new reality was in motion, set off by the actions of Tony and Bruce building that machine way back when, then them turning that thing on, and, of course, Alex, or AJ as she continually insisted, coming through and starting to shake things up.

That was about as much information as they dared to ask for, and about as much as the teenager would give out on their plane ride over. Probably for the better, given how many times AJ would need to re-tell her side of things to everyone. Even now, as everyone waited in anticipation for Tony to be patched up, all Steve did was introduce AJ to Natasha and Clint.

“H-hi. Alexandra Jarvis. But, uh, just AJ is fine.” If the girl was far more nervous and even excited when talking to Natasha, then Steve assumed it was ‘meeting your hero’ nerves. At least Scott now had a better idea of who was the favourite.

“Natalia Romanoff. Just Natasha, or Nat, is fine.” The super spy mimicked, giving AJ her signature soft smile. Calms anyone down, and Alex smiled back, even if she noticeably hesitated at shaking Nat’s hand.

“Clint Barton.” The team archer also chipped in, forgoing the formal versus casual name gag. He sat on a nearby couch and looking away, dangerously playing with a dart and only gave a backwards wave of the hand as a greeting, possibly still caught up in his own head, his own loss and grief. Natasha politely apologised for meeting under such extreme circumstances, causing Steve to silently remark that they probably shouldn’t have met at all.

Otherwise, neither spy openly questioned the presence of the teenager. Maybe the fact that Alex was wearing some pieces of the Avenger’s gear and openly accepted by the others, was an indication that she was on their side.

Turns out the two spies were inside the Compound the entire time, lights mostly off, and the Wakandan aircraft Natasha borrowed was sent back on autopilot, leaving little trace of their arrival. Having gotten there earlier than everyone else, they had enough time to change clothes, shower, and as Natasha discreetly whispered to him, sober Clint up. Given how the archer looked now, Steve dreaded to think about how he must have looked before. And that Natasha had to find him like that, alone, a fact not to subtly reminded as the Black Widow fixed him with a hard stare and asked why he didn’t tell her his family was gone earlier, and how he even knew that in the first place.

“In a moment, I promise.” Steve assured her, “When Tony gets back, we’ll tell you guys everything.” Or Alex will anyway.

The Compound had the best medical technology available to them, and knowing Tony, it’s only been upgraded further in the last two years. Considering the fact that the man was walking nearly four days after his lethal injury, Tony will most definitely survive. _He might be a little ticked off at you._ Even if that will mean he’ll be strong enough to argue.

It’s not that Steve thought their eventual ‘proper’ confrontation with each other could be avoided, he just hoped it could be postponed. Probably for his own sake, again, guilt laying heavy on his heart; whether due to the broken friendship, or the fact that a part of him still believed he did the right thing back then, he couldn’t tell. Given Alex’s rather direct approach to warning him of Tony’s potential mood, Steve didn’t hold much hope for a quiet private talk like he would have wanted. In fact, a public showdown might be much closer.

However, for now, everyone waited. Thor went back to snacking on something in the kitchen. Rocket and the blue woman, Nebula, talked in hushed voices, a look of mourning on their faces. More loudly was the conversation that brought Rhodey and Clint up to speed. When Steve noticed that Alex was also listening in, and not just staring off into space as she pretended, the Captain made sure she heard them stop at the portal explanation, stating that the rest would be better for everyone to hear at once. At that, the teen smiled sadly and shook her head, but otherwise kept quiet once again. From their previous brief talks, AJ seemed to enjoy talking with others, or sharing thoughts or joking around or saying whatever comes to mind, and it pained to see how silent she was when not prompted into a conversation. That and, of course, there must be so much she’s holding back from telling until everyone regroups.

They waited more. Clint and Natasha sat catching up on the past two years, sharing happy memories and funny antidotes. Scott made AJ her promised hot chocolate, and one for himself, and another two at Thor and Clint’s insistence, and then talked to the teenager about whatever came to mind; Star Wars and science fiction seemed to be the go-to for both of them, especially given their crazy quantum realm and multiverse situations, despite the overall lack of scientific knowledge.

Only as the sun set and sky darkened, did some distance footsteps alert everyone to the other’s arrival, conversations silenced as people turned around in anticipation. Bruce turned the corner first, Nebula close behind. Then a wheelchair, with a still rather pale Tony Stark sitting in it, guided by Rhodey with Pepper pulling along a blood transfusion stand.

Finally, everyone was together.

After Tony was pushed up closer to the holographic table, there was silence. No one knew how to start. Those that knew about Alex were maybe hoping she would say something, those that didn’t shared their collective loss in the tense atmosphere. Steve stared at Tony for as long as the billionaire wasn’t looking at him, looking down briefly when the man turned to him, before making eye-contact again. Fortunately for everyone, Tony began to tap his fingers in impatience, and in less than ten seconds he spoke up, voice clear and confident, “I feel like I just rolled up to my own funeral. What’s been going on here?”

Alex either coughed or cleared her throat and instantly looked away. Steve didn’t get to question her reaction. He didn’t get to bring up the peculiar situation they were in either, and when he tried to redirect the conversation to the teenager, she barely made the effort to talk over the others.

Then, of course, she didn’t look particularly guilty about it when the yelling started either.

* * *

**Who told you that?** I didn’t fight him. No_ – with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away – There was no fight. He’s unbeatable –a few years back. I had a vision–didn’t wanna believe it–dreaming–tensethattrumpswhatlatebuddysorrytellingallyou–around the world–precious freedoms–‘We’ll do that together’– you weren’t there. – But that’s what we do – Not the Prevengers – Actually, no. – Bunch of tired old mules! I got nothing for you – no coordinates, no clues, no strategies – _Zero. Zip. Nada. **No trust… Liar.**

* * *

You lose some, you win some.

Perhaps sitting back on the coaches and watching chaos unravel while sipping on hot chocolate and shrugging whenever Scott looked at her in worry, was not the brightest of ideas.

Too late AJ realised just how the scene ended, and too late she realised that Tony was gravely injured, without twenty days of healing, and were he to pass out, it would likely be from the pain of his wound reopening. Although it’s not as if she intended to relive that iconic scene, but once the ball started rolling, she didn’t dare stop it.

Even as the minutes passed, the words spoken hung heavy over everyone’s heads. Maybe to someone like Nebula or Rocket, it was all but a bad reunion between old teammates, but to those at the airport, it was the final tail of that drama. Thor awkwardly stopped chewing his food about halfway through the arguing, Scott somehow shrunk himself back into the couches without the help of any Pym particles. While Clint and Natasha for one were probably communicating full sentences with the way they kept looking between each other, occasionally shaking their heads in remorse at some of the points raised.

And Steve did about what AJ expected of him to do. The man now leaned back against the holographic table, arms crossed, looking down, defeated. Pepper and Thor left with Tony, insisting Rhodey stay and listen, even if he desperately wanted to go.

Which meant no one was going to start any conversation anytime soon.

“So…” _Told you._ “That went well.” _That’s nicer, right?_

“So much for hindsight.” Scott hesitantly gave her a tight smile.

“I mean… He makes some good points here though.” Her reply might as well have been a whisper, but the utter silence meant everyone heard it rather clearly.

“Yeah… ‘Here’” Steve finally tore his eyes off the floor and suspiciously looked at AJ. Never a good sign. “Did you- you let that happen, didn’t you? Now?”

_Well, great._ Denying it and letting them all find out later was one lie too many. She had her reasons, and not all of them were ‘I panicked and didn’t want to interfere.’

“Yeah,” AJ replied, drawing on her low to non-existent confrontation skills, “But no offence really, you two kinda need to sort out all your problems with each other.”

“I’m sorry and what do you know about these problems?” Clint said, suddenly sitting upright and looking at her sceptically from across the couches.

If asked later, then, of course, Alexandra Josefina Jarvis would never admit to willing nearly throwing hands with the American hero. But the circumstances, stress and tension, or really everything in that moment did not allow her to just answer the archer’s question peacefully, as Steve cut her off before she even opened her mouth.

“I wanted to talk to him later, but now? There are bigger things to discuss.”

“Not really.” She mumbled back, rather obviously half rolling her eyes.

Steve pushed himself off the table, and suddenly yelled, “He passed out!”

At least this time AJ managed to keep her sarcastic commentary on the inside, and opted to glare back at the Captain, “Civil- no, the Accords stuff and Siberia was pretty much the sole reason the Avengers failed to stop Thanos. If you two weren’t broken up, things would have been very different.”

The Captain’s eyes momentarily widened, but he didn’t reply, just glared back. It was terrifying. Through sheer stubbornness, AJ didn’t back down.

Around the room, she was vaguely aware of several people looking between each other. Notably, people who didn’t know about AJ, and who are very much within reason not to just question some random teenager being in the Avenger’s Compound, but to also question what said teenager just said and knows. Given that she just name-dropped Thanos so easily, she was surprised that at least _one_ of the four who don’t know yet, Clint, Natasha, Rhodey or Nebula, didn’t draw a weapon. Or they did and she’s too busy losing a staring contest with Captain America to notice.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Whatever either of them wanted to say was cut off by the Black Widow, physically stepping in between them, “Break it up you two, we already had a yelling match today, I don’t think anyone’s in a mood for another one.”

AJ mumbled an apology, while Steve crossed his arms and looked away.

“And what on Earth are you two so vaguely referencing?” Rhodey then added on, glancing back and forth between the barely adult and grown-up child, whichever of the two fit which description better.

“Alex, maybe tell the others your situation first.” Steve finally said.

_Alex this, Alex that, c’mon._ “Just AJ is fine, man. If I refer to you as Capsicle or ‘the idiot with the shield’, I think you can call me by my nickname.” The teen answered him, hoping her light tone and smile wouldn’t start any more beef.

“Noted. But seriously, please –”

“She’s from another universe.”

_Oh, for – This is EXACTLY why raccoons shouldn’t talk._

All heads swirled around to the little creature, who sat bat without much care. Somehow despite the raccoon features, it was very clear to see that he was bored. Or annoyed. Maybe sad. Actually, it wasn’t that clear at all.

“What? You people were getting nowhere. Like he said, there’s bigger things to discuss.”

“Yeah, well… Thanks.” AJ shakily turned around to the people who didn’t know yet, preparing for yet another two-hour questioning. _I need to write this shit down._ “What he said, I guess… Another universe.”

AJ paused for the information to sink in. Or for someone to at least say ‘what’ but neither came.

Just as she thought she may as well continue, Clint decided to leave a dry comment, “Yeah, and please, by all means, don’t elaborate any further.” his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“It’s true.” Steve started, “When we opened that portal, a portal that was supposed to take us to Thanos, it didn’t go the way we thought. Something went wrong, and we tried to close it. At the last second, Ale- AJ fell through.”

“Thanks for that by the way…” AJ couldn’t help but mumble, only very slightly still petty.

“You’re from another universe?” Natasha asked, not exactly fixing her with a death glare but something intense enough that AJ did not want to move, “Explain.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure…” _Here we go again._ She went over the basics, the obvious information to give out first, and kept talking even as people glanced between each other, or as they shifted closer or further away, processing what’s being told. Fictional characters, Marvel Comics, Disney, more movies telling one long story, or this entire timeline, building up to… now, to Thanos.

“And uh, what happened just now was in a movie called ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, which, yeah, ended with you guys… Um, like losing and all that…”

Again, the poor teen was met with shocked faces and silence at the end of her monologue. The room was seriously feeling overcrowded. Either that or the heating was on too strong. AJ spared a quick thought at how many times she may need to re-tell this to everyone who’s currently dust. Wait, no, _will _need to re-tell. She will see them. They’ll come back. _And by the end of this, I’ll be a God at public speaking._

“So… Tones made a portal through the multiverse.” Rhodey suddenly stated, breaking the ice for everyone, drawing them out of their paralysed silence.

“And you just hopped through?” Clint questioned, “Shouldn’t seeing a wormhole or something pop out of nowhere, prompt you to maybe _not_ go through it?”

“What were you doing right before that too?” Natasha added on.

“I- I don’t really know. I _thought_ I was walking to my friend’s place. We were just gonna hang out and watch a movie. Hell, maybe a Marvel movie, so about you guys, and then…” AJ frowned, scavenging through her memory of that morning, a time so far away now. “It- It’s blank. Suddenly I was here, looking up at Chris Evans of all people, with Mark Ruffalo introducing himself as ‘Bruce Banner’.” The girl chuckled, cringing at that embarrassing first encounter, “But it’s kind of hard to dispute their argument when Rocket is breathing and talking, and you know… real.”

“Thanks.” When told about computer graphics, Rocket was not happy to hear he was technically just a walking 3D animation in AJ’s world. She countered that training a raccoon to walk and talk was infinitely harder.

“Hey, thank you too, realised you guys weren’t crazy but _probably_ telling the truth. Gave me a fucking heart-attack though, I think I lost a solid five years on my life.”

“You’re welcome then.” Rocket even gave her a smirk with that. Or the equivalent of a raccoon’s smirk. For an animal, he was pretty good at showing facial emotions.

“Who else knows?” Natasha said, looking around the room.

Scott raised his hand quickly, following it up with a justification of ‘only finding out like an hour ago’. Steve told them that Bruce, Pepper and Thor knew too; they were there when Alex first woke and spoke to them. General Okoye wasn’t yet informed, but that was definitely next on the list. And then well, everyone who wasn’t around, yet.

Rhodey let out a frustrated chuckle, and crashed down onto a nearby chair, “We’re fictional character to you?”

“Not anymore, I guess. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but you guys have aliens and gods and all-powerful glowing space rocks, I think the multiverse shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. I’m at the one in the wrong universe at least, let me be the one who’s shocked or scared, and… slightly petty or angry at times.”

The _I don’t want to be here either but what you gonna do?_ was left unspoken but highly implied. Once again, everyone sat silently, thinking over what has been said.

Some people definitely processed things quicker than others, and Clint sat up straighter and leaned forward, “Why did I name my youngest kid Charlie Pietro Barton?”

_What. Who?_ “Youngest? Isn’t that –” AJ looked around, suddenly much less confident in her knowledge of the MCU, mind scrambling for the needed information, “I thought that was Nathaniel… A-after Natasha?” _Right?_

“Yeah,” Almost disappointed, Clint dropped his head into his hands, his voice almost a whisper, “And why – then why Pietro?”

“Oh…” _Shit, Pietro really did die. Because this is all real._ “For Pietro. Pietro Maximoff.”

“And?” Clint barely audibly mumbled.

The teenager felt all the blood rush from her face, and her voice didn’t seem to come out as normally as before, “I don’t wanna say it, man… He- He died protecting you from Ultron.”

Just as AJ forced out those words, and turned back from meticulously inspecting the wall to her left, she saw Clint tear his head out of his arms, watery eyes meeting hers, and with a surprisingly gentle smile, in the softest father voice imaginable, told her…

“You better be at least be a fucking Hawkeye fan.”

She felt bad for instantly chuckling, she really did, and to Steve’s dismay, this time didn’t hold back her usual reaction to such foul words, “Language!”

The atmosphere in the room lifted; Steve groaned, Scott openly laughed, and AJ swore she saw Natasha quickly covering a grin. Even Nebula stepped in closer to the group, her expression softer. And wow she was so fascinating to look at. She’s blue, she has those large black eyes, and she’s _really in front of AJ_ and yes, those cybernetic enhancements were placed there against her will but it’s still so cool to see how everything – 

“– take in, but with AJ’s help we can bring everyone back.” Steve was talking, and AJ snapped out of her trance, not having realised that she was staring at the blue woman for so long.

“So, there is a way? To fix all this?”

“Well, yes…”

Natasha frowned, “You say that like it’s a problem.”

“No, it’s just um, really, really complicated. ‘Endgame’ is a 3-hour movie people, a lot of shit happens. And uh, kind of all hinders on Tony? You guys can’t do anything at the moment without him.”

A few people audibly sighed, maybe with annoyance, maybe remorse.

“If you haven’t noticed,” Rhodey said, “He’s got one foot in the grave with his current condition.”

Oh, and AJ openly winced. _Why do you people keep making death-jokes about Tony?_

“By all means let him rest, and all,” She began, “But that’s just what it is. Tony is the reason everyone comes back. No offence, but none of you are geniuses like him, he’s the only one left alive to do this.”

_‘Left alive’, for fuck’s-_ Even AJ was alluding to life and death when talking about Tony.

“I- I know you probably want to know the details of everything, but can I tell you once everyone’s here? And once, you know, the one this depends on isn’t unconscious and severely injured?”

People nodded in acceptance, understanding looks from everyone in the room. Then suddenly, in her peripheral, Steve moved, standing up straight, a determined look on his face.

“Alright, let’s leave this till morning. I’ll go talk to Tony.”

* * *

**MORNING – 4th OF JUNE, <strike>2020</strike> 2018 – AVENGER’S COMPOUND, MCU**

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

AJ awkwardly shook her head. After yet another restless night, that’s all she could manage. Even when she met _the_ Tony-Iron-Man-Stark, Mr’ Mr Stark’, and saviour of the universe, she was not as enthusiastic as she would be on any other day. In fact, the only thing keeping her upright was the cup of coffee Natasha offered her the moment she saw her. Guess she looked that terrible.

“Christ, and I thought Cap hit his head or something…” Tony mumbled, rubbing at his temple, “A portal through the multiverse… and we’re a bunch of fictional characters… and _I’m_ responsible to make sure, how did you put it, people that got ‘snapped away’ come back?”

AJ nodded again, even if the man wasn’t looking at her.

After their little yelling match, Tony and Steve talked for hours. Well, after Tony had gone through the Regeneration Cradle, again, and was more or less fully patched up. They talked and apologised and even if forgiving each other was a bit of a stretch, at least they seemed to be able to exist in the same room without much more conflict.

“I mean c’mon, you’ve got to give me something else.” Tony finally asked, chuckling right after.

“Um, you and your actor are very similar?” 

“So helpful…”

“Hey, I’m not wrong! People joke that RDJ and Tony Stark are one and the same all the time.”

“Can we go back a step?” Steve interrupted, “Are you saying we need to build a time machine?”

“No, I’m saying _he_ needs to build a time machine,” AJ gestured at Tony, who only lifted an eyebrow from behind his sunglasses, “But yeah you guys can help too, I guess.”

Tony push back his chair and stood up, wandering across to the window, all eyes on him. _He_ needed to invent _time travel_. Scratch that, he already invented time travel in _another timeline._ How?

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition.” He turned around hand gesturing wildly, “Can we agree on that?”

AJ was already halfway to passing out and didn’t bat an eye at the copied dialogue.

“In Layman’s terms, it means we’re not coming home.” But then Tony chuckled, almost to himself, “And you’re saying we did? It worked?”

“Yup.” AJ answered, popping the ‘p’ and sipped on her now cold coffee. Putting the cup down she imitated jazz hands, for the effect, “_Time Heist_… yay…”

“Yeah, a time heist… who came up with that name?”

The teen quickly pointed at Scott, who quickly tried to deny it. The keyword being ‘tried’.

“We get the stones,” Natasha now wondered out loud, “We snap our own fingers, bring everybody back. Alex, the stones are out there right now, why not tell us where Thanos is and we go get them?”

“Oh man, I suck at storytelling…” She put ‘time travel’ above ‘let Thanos destroy the stones’, “About a month after the snap, Thanos, um, he uses the stones to destroy the stones. And you should let him!” She hurried to add, before anyone could argue otherwise.

“No offence but none of you stand a chance against him. Why do you think they’re called ‘Infinity Stones’? They grant the user _infinite_ power. Even one of the strongest of you, Captain Marvel, can’t take him, and she’s not even here yet! Hell, even _without _the gauntlet he kicked all your asses in Endgame.”

When no one spoke up, she kept going.

“B-but, after he destroys the stones, he’s very weak. And doesn’t even want to fight back, thinking his job is done. You can go kill him then.”

Time travel. Thanos. The stones.

Rocket mumbled something incomprehensible, and Tony shook his head again. Rhodey and Pepper discussed something political. Friends exchanged knowing looks; acquaintances shrugged at each other.

“It worked last time if that helps,” AJ meekly continued, “And I know the mistakes you made so that can be fixed too. Grab the stones, bring them back. Hell, you could save just about _everyone_.”

“Fine.” Tony clapped his hands, clicked his fingers, and weighed his options, “I’ll see what I can do.”

* * *

Clint sat outside; the weather too beautiful for what was currently going on in the world. But no planes flew by overhead, and no birds came to the little bird feeder. The tiny garden felt rather gloomy, even if the flowers had only just bloomed.

“Hey Laura,” Clint held up a little photo, his wife and kids and him, taken some time while he was under house arrest, all of them sitting around and playing some dumb board game, “Things are looking pretty down right now, aren’t they? We got a bit of hope, but I guess that doesn’t guarantee anything.”

The archer sighed and tore his eyes away from the picture. Steve briefly described how people looked as they disappeared, and Clint could only hope his family went as peacefully as everyone else. Maybe he was lucky not to see.

“I- I think I’m going to do something stupid.” He quietly mumbled, “Just a dumb idea that I can’t shake. But you know me, babe, I never seemed to stay out of trouble for too long.”

He chuckled, but the mirth died down far too quickly. His words were barely a whisper when he spoke again, “He’s not gonna see this coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... *dodges knives* so i'm back haha
> 
> by all means, this will not become an abandoned project, it just might take a while to finish (but I've got a LOT planned for AJ and co, don't you worry). I'm trying to speed things up, while not leaving too much time for AJ to talk 'off-camera' so it's a bit hard to balance
> 
> thank you for coming back to read this! (or if you're new then, thank you for choosing to read this :) )
> 
> Please correct any grammar/spelling errors!

**Author's Note:**

> This has just been an idea floating around my head for a while, and I finally decided to actually write it. Or actually write a smaller less complicated version, but nevertheless it's here.
> 
> A real person in the MCU style, what can I say?  
Haven't seen many people do this so here I am.


End file.
